In Fate's Defiance
by DemonoftheRoundTable
Summary: Fate has dictated Ruby Rose's life from a very young age. From losing her family, to finding a new one, this young woman has spent her life weaving through life's twisted tale, looking for the storybook ending that she has longed for. Join her as she continues the search for her family, joined by those from her shattered childhood as well as those from her promising future. [AU]
1. End of the Week

**Well, well, well, what do we have here? A bunch of readers and a piss poor author who won't deliver? Well, put away the pitchforks because I am (reluctantly) back!**

 **If you're curious as to a few things, such as "Is this the story you've been promoting all year?" or even "What the hell have you been doing?" I can answer all of those, but won't here. Those answers, and more, can be found within my profile. But, I will give you the run down. 1: No, this isn't Cataclysmic. As a matter of fact, that one has been completely scrapped. I just can't make it work in any way. 2: I've been working my ass off. Seriously. Now I'm in full time work _and_ school, so time is very much on a valuable resource. **

**HOWEVER! If some of you recall (those who have been reading my stories for a while now will know. If you stumbled across this... Hi.) I had talked about a story that I wasn't sure if it was ready to be released. This is that story, and mind you, I'm still unsure if I want to release it. But... What the hell, I've made you wait long enough.**

 **This is the first chapter of my newest story, potentially my biggest project _ever_ in terms of... Really, anything. I'm willing to take this one as far as it will go. It will feature RWBY in an alternate universe, a real life universe (cliche level: FUCKING 10). I couldn't resist, and this is the one that I've been working, mending, twisting and turning, dismantling, rebuilding... Destroying again, for about almost a year now. I've had the first couple chapters written out but my plot had been reworked so many times that those chapters had to be rewritten. **

**I'd tell you more about this story and what it's about, but that would take away the point of the first chapter, now wouldn't it? So, instead of listening to my stupid ass ramble, I'll leave you with story below and I'll see you at the bottom of the page.**

 **Enjoy!**

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The bell rang, bringing the red-clad girl back from her stupor. She had lost all track of time, and actually let her mind wander a bit for the last half hour or so, leading to a nice surprise when the end of class came.

"Remember, students!" Her teacher declared amidst the noise of papers being shoved into backpacks and chairs scooting against the floor, "We _may_ have a pop quiz next class! So be ready. Dismissed!" Professor Port had boomed his dismal of the class, leading to an exodus from the room and out into the halls. Ruby and her friends decided to stay back for a minute and wait for the crowd at the door to die down a bit.

"Finally!" One of the friends, a blonde young woman named Yang Xiao Long, cheered with a light clap, calling attention to herself, "Friday, right?" Her lilac eyes seemed to beam with renewed energy as the drawn out day began to come to a long awaited end.

"With only one class left." Pyrrha Nikos' shoulders sagged a bit in relief, "It's been a long week." Everyone nodded in agreement. Every third week of every month at Beacon was a testing week, and this very Friday marked the end of that third week. Pyrrha was equal to Yang in height, though the former had pure, straight red hair to her use, whilst Yang had her blonde mane that was almost always down, rather than kept into a ponytail. Pyrrha glanced at the door after a moment and was the first to rise from her seat, causing the other three, Yang, Ruby Rose- A shorter, younger teen with silver eyes brunette hair with red streaks in it- and Nora Valkyrie- A young woman who was about Ruby's height with short, bright orange hair- to follow suit. The class had emptied out which now meant it was time for them to leave.

The four girls had almost every class with each other. The class scheduling was a bit different, considering Beacon was more of a 'college prep' academy and not a high school. Every student took ten classes; the first five would be taken one day (Red day), the last five the next (Black day) and the cycle would repeat. The days were represented with the color scheme of Beacon's uniform. Students would have two days to do any work with their classes. The second class of every day was considered "Free Period" where students could go to teachers for help or to other classes for group work. The fourth class was two hours long, dedicating a half an hour so students could eat. Lunches went in four waves.

The girls were currently on Red day, their fourth class having third lunch. Each class was an hour and a half long (again, save for the fourth class, which was two hours so everyone could eat). It wasn't difficult to assume some students had two backpacks, one for each day.

"So, who's going to our weekly lazer tag outing?" Yang declared more than asked. Every week on Friday, Vales local Lazer Tag would stay open later into the night than usual, and once every month there would be an all-night lock in. Unfortunately, the lock in wasn't for another week, but that still left a late Friday night.

"Oh! Oh!" Nora bounced energetically, per her usual self, "I can! I get paid today and don't work again until Sunday, so I can come!" Nora worked at her father's restaurant, which was also in co-ownership with the Ren family.

Pyrrha thought for a moment as they walked to their next class; History with Professor Oobleck. "I'll work something out. How about you, Ruby? You missed the last two weeks. Going to make it three?"

Ruby sank a little bit after hearing Pyrrha's tease. Luckily, Yang was in for the save. "Oh, cut it out Pyrrha. If she can't come then she can't come."

"No, no. It's ok." Ruby defended, "I'll be there this time." Her declaration was bold, and she realized that she might have just made a promise she can't keep. Still, though, it wouldn't stop her from trying.

The group approached the class and Yang opened the door, letting the other three walk in. There was no seating order, so it was first come first serve. Luckily, they were one of the first people in the class, so they chose to sit in the back. Yang took a seat next to Ruby as the redhead sat on the corner seat. Pyrrha and Nora took the opposite side, creating an L shape.

Ruby dug her history folder out, the notebook of the same class within. She wanted to get a few more minutes of studying in before class started, as History was notoriously not one of her strong points.

"Ya know," Yang whispered, leaning in slightly as more students flowed in, "If you want I'll let you copy off some of my answers."

Ruby sighed in pure annoyance, "Yang, you'd go way too fast for me. I'll just do the test the old fashioned way."

"I'm offering some help for you, but if you don't want to take it-"

"You're _help_ is commonly called _cheating_."

"Ah, but it's an easy A, right?" Yang's persistence was legendary amongst the group. She was exceptional in History classes and tried her hardest to help her friend, but the red themed girl wouldn't accept any. And not any cheating help, either. Legitimate study sessions.

Ruby was as stubborn as Yang was.

Time went by as the four waited for class to start. Try as she might, Ruby was having a hard time studying. She took more than adequate notes, but it just wasn't enough. She just couldn't focus herself on the task at hand. Leaning back in her seat, she dropped her pencil on the desk and folded her arms across her abdomen and sighed; one of her many nervous habits that her friends had picked up on when they first met the younger girl.

"Now do you-"

"Yes." Ruby interrupted with an annoyed tone, giving in to the blondes offer. Yang pumped her fist, elated her friend could finally get a good grade.

The bell rang as the students took their seats. Oobleck stood up, and moved to the front of the class, coffee in his hand. "Alright class this test is going to be very easy for those of you who have paid attention. It will be forty two questions with an essay, that of which you will respond on a separate piece of paper. Any questions?" He said quickly and energetically. Sometimes Ruby wondered if he had more energy than her? Still, No one responded to his question, "Alright then! You may turn in the tests whenever you complete them. Considering this is the last class of the day, you can be dismissed as well once you have done so." He swiftly passed out the tests to each student then returned to his desk, "Begin!"

It was a scantron sheet, which meant everything was multiple choice. Before Ruby knew it Yang was done with the first row of questions. The blonde stopped and peered over, letting Ruby know she was good to go. Ruby started on the test, stopping only to get a clue as to what question she was on. She finished the row and turned the page. This let Yang know that she was good to continue.

This didn't happen often, Ruby copying. She never was bad with classes, let alone tests, but every now and again her entire friends group would do this for each other in case someone needed help. Generally, Ruby was there whenever there was an issue with math, considering she was in the schools CTE (Career Technical Education) classes. Yang had History and English down, whilst Pyrrha and Nora had most sciences. It was a collaborative effort with them all.

Yang finished the next row which let Ruby begin her process. The two kept looking around the room from time to time, trying to see if anyone saw them. Ninety nine percent of students wouldn't care about something like that, but that one percent was the one to fear. Also, they were looking at Oobleck to make sure he didn't see their little stunt, either. If he had... Well, at least they don't have to worry about what grade they got. Luckily, he hadn't caught on.

The two went like this for the duration of the test, which took about twenty minutes to do. Up until they had the essay. They knew Ruby would be on her own, and she accepted it. Yang went up to get separate sheets of paper whilst Ruby read the question.

 _'Out of the war in Menagerie came a group; The White Fang, bent on peace between Humans and Faunus. Unfortunately, peace negotiations went into a standstill and no progress was made, leading to a splinter terrorist organization being made in an attempt to gain Faunus rights their way. How do the two White Fangs differ and how are they similar?'_

Ruby thought that question out. _'Well, the Peaceful White Fang and the Terrorist White Fang are the same in terms of what they're after. The ideal is there, it's the method that's wrong. And yet, neither side is wrong because they're just trying to gain freedom for all, which Humans keep denying.'_ She sat back in her chair, putting her hand under her chin. _'The only way they differ is in what they do and how they do it, really. Good job, Rubes, you paid attention in class and figured out the question. Now put that down to paper.'_

While she had thought, Yang had brought her the lined paper and started working on her own. By the time Ruby started, her blonde friend was finished and turned her paper in. Oobleck gave her the OK and she was gone, Pyrrha and Nora a few minutes behind her.

Ruby went to work, writing down exactly what she had thought. The ideals were the same, it was the method that was different. This question seemed more opinion than anything else, which made Ruby wonder why it was here? She knew that the teachers and instructors of Beacon were interested in their students opinions, but this wasn't a very good topic to get on.

Race never really is a topic of discussion, regardless of how mature the discussion can be held.

Ruby finally finished, dotting the end of essay. She stood up and walked to Oobleck, who gave her the nod. Finally, testing week had come to an early end. She picked up her backpack and left. Outside the classroom the red themed girl found her friends waiting. "Finally we can get out of here!" Nora said, jokingly.

"Aw, you all didn't have to wait for me."

"Yeah, we wanted to. Plus, I think Pyrrha's still waiting on Jaune." Yang said slyly, causing the taller girl to blush. "Ah, I think I got her!"

"N-no! That's not it at all!" Pyrrha defended, though her voice failed her mind.

"Aha! You messed it up! Got you!" Yang teased. She knew Ruby and Nora found good fun in it too, given their reactions. "Alright, let's get out of here. Unless you want to wait, Pyrrha?"

"No, no. Anyone else will cramp our style." Pyrrha said, holding up a single hand. Nora breathed a sigh of relief as they began to walk down the stairs to the outside.

Beacon was a two story facility with multiple wings and an outdoor quad on campus, giving it a college feel to the private school. In the General Ed. wing was your basic mandatory classes. Then there was the CTE classes for Woodshop, Welding, Engineering and so on. Then the Arts wing for Music, painting, photo and any other artist related class. Finally there was the P.E. wing, which also had your health classes too. Beacon was more of a "We'll get you ready for college" rather than a "We'll teach you this, then you're on your own." type school.

"So, what time will we meet and where?" Nora curiously inquired, "For Lazer Tag, I mean."

"We'll just meet each other there like we always do, be there at about eight-ish. Anyone need a ride?" Everyone present shook their head. "Ruby? You sure?"

"Yang, I live right across the street from the place, I'll be fine." Ruby easily assured, waving her friends off with a small smile.

"Alright, alright." Yang replied defensively. "Let's all go home and rest. If we're lucky, we're gonna be a late night." Everyone agreed, Nora cheered, and they all went their separate ways. Nora and Pyrrha lived relatively close to each other, so they drove together. When they weren't driving with Ren or Jaune (respectively). Yang mounted up on her motorcycle, offering Ruby a ride, who declined respectively. The younger girl had rode with the blonde before- tons of times- but passed more often than not on good weather days. The apartment complex she lived at wasn't very far from the school, less than two miles and she figured she could use the extra activity today.

She enjoyed walking through the city, seeing new people and what not. The uniform she wore told people of where she had just come from. Beacon's school uniform was highly respected amongst Vale, as the academy was one of the top in the kingdom. Most students were humble, yet others were... To put lightly, dicks. It was tough to tell who was going to fall under which category, but some people still liked to find out by conversing with passing students.

The city streets weren't necessarily full with people, but it was still enough to be an interesting place. Business men and women, street performers or even shop owners who were taking a break outside their stores all made up Vale's streets, no matter where you go. Luckily for Ruby, Beacon was on the edge of town and her apartment was relatively close, which meant she didn't have to traverse through the busy downtown. No matter what you did, if you wanted to go through there you had to make sure you had extra time. There was always some sort of traffic jam, construction or accident there for some reason or another. Walking didn't mean much, but it could always be a pain.

She passed by shops and stores, most having their front doors open invitingly. If she peered within, most workers made eye contact with her and would smile, which she would reciprocate. The weather today was pristine, not too hot, not too cold and not a cloud in the sky. Perfect for late September. The few stores that didn't have their doors open were usually deli's or drug stores, but she didn't mind that. Luckily, anybody she passed by on the street didn't talk to her, which cut down on her travel time.

She quickly found her way to the main street and turned right at the corner. Now she was in the shade of the tall buildings. The sounds of cars driving past her filled her ears, though she wasn't really paying too much attention to that. The fact that she was able to get out of class so early was a blessing, too. It allowed her to skip the rush of students trying to get home for the weekend. However, right now it was a quick mile down the street and towards the highway and she'd be home. Of course, she could stop along any of the stores and get a drink for her troubles... _'But that would require money.'_ She giggled to herself. Normally she had a few extra Lien on hand, but she got really hungry at lunch.

The shaded block had mostly taller buildings, this was the business district. Not many stores like near campus, these were, as her friends called them, the 'Cubical Jockey' businesses. She chuckled at the thought, but refused to say it out loud. Some people were entering these buildings, some were exiting. Most were on their phones in some way, paying no mind to Ruby's existence. Good, she thought. She had an odd phobia of people in suits and just wanted to get out of that area.

In what felt like no time at all (but was really about an hour) the red-themed teen found herself at her apartment complex, Terrace View. She walked around to the back door of the building, something she had grown accustomed to doing over the few years that she had lived there, and walked in through the unlocked door marked "Do Not Enter- Employees Only". She personally knew the couple that ran the complex, and they knew she liked to use the back rather than the front of the complex, so they left it unlocked around this time for her.

Walking into the reception area from the back, Ruby examined the front desk, noting that was empty, save for a few papers. On her immediate left was an open door which led to a massive room, what looked to be a kitchen to outsiders. This was actually the apartment where the owner and his wife lived, where Ruby usually met them after school. There was only one light on from the actual kitchen rather than the dining area, offering a bit of illumination, though admittedly not a lot. In the room was a table with a note on it. Ruby walked up and examined said note.

 _'Ruby._

 _I went out to run some errands. Thought you might like a few things, too. Will see you whenever I get back. We'll start working around then, too._

 _-Neo.'_

Ruby put the paper down and turned around, only to find the owner, Hei 'Junior' Xiong walking in, lighting up a cigarette. "Shouldn't you be at school for another twenty minutes?" Her muscles stiffened slightly as he looked at his watch, "Oh, no you should be getting out now. Did your friends give you a ride or something, or did you just ditch school altogether?"

"No, no. This was the end of testing week for this month, I got out early." Ruby defended nervously. Junior nodded easily.

"Right, forgot about that. How did you do?" His tone of voice seemed to be uncaring or uninterested, which seemed to be the theme of their discussions since school began.

"We'll find out next week."

"And I'd assume no homework?"

"Right."

"Alright, you can do whatever. I don't have any plans until later tonight anyway. We have a new tenant moving in right down the hall from you and the wife is gonna need your help."

"Oh?" Ruby raised her eyebrows curiously, "Who is it?"

"Ah, some exchange kid or something. Her parents are renting out a place so she can get an education here. I think she's going to Beacon, too."

Ruby was surprised. A new student in the middle of a semester? A transfer at that, too? That's uncommon. Still, she decided not to push for anymore information, nodded and left, trying to get to her apartment on the third floor. Terrace View was a seven story building with a number of rooms throughout. Ruby had been living there for the past three years and had gotten to know Junior and Neo, his wife, very well. She lives alone and the couple allow her to live there so long as she helps with a few chores. Neo handles that part, Junior handles the rent for all of the tenants.

She walked up the stairs and to her floor where three doors down from the staircase was her apartment. She easily pulled out the key from her uniform shirt pocket and turned the knob quickly, opening the door to her humble abode. A small cooking area on the right (after you've entered) with a bathroom on the left. In front of her, after a step down, was her dining area, just a coffee table with a lone couch and two pillows along the side, in case she didn't want to eat on the couch. The couch doubled as a futon, which was a bonus to her. Sometimes she just wanted to sleep somewhere else, and said couch was positioned right in front of the counter that separated the kitchen and the living room/dining room.

Ruby walked to the far side of the room to the window covered by curtains and let the light of the sun shine through. The room illuminated from the natural lighting, letting the redhead breathe a sigh of relief. She liked sunlight more than light bulbs, but could never explain why.

She walked into her room, a small nook in the apartment with a queen sized bed and a closet near the end of the same wall where the door was. It truly was a humble abode, but she didn't mind. Once she entered the room, she flipped open those curtains and turned to her bed where she laid out a change of clothes for herself before leaving for school.

The teen enjoyed her street clothes far better than she did her school uniform. She liked the design of Beacons uniform, but not for everyday use. To her, they felt too strict and felt too much like suits. She stripped down and changed into her usual attire; loose black sweats and a red cotton shirt. She also had a red zip-up jacket, but didn't use that as much until it got colder outside. This was her spring/fall attire, whilst her winter attire was heavier sweats or jeans with that same red jacket. Her summer attire was a red and black corset with a skirt going no farther than her knees.

She always picked up flak from Pyrrha for wearing the same few things, but Ruby didn't care. She liked her clothing and nothing would sway her otherwise.

As she threw her shirt on she heard a knock on the door. _'Probably Neo.'_ She thought, _'Nice of her to knock this time.'_ The shorter woman had a habit of just barging in sometimes... Most of the time.

"I'm coming." Ruby called as she exited her room. Peering through the hole in her door, her thoughts were confirmed. A familiar, short woman with pink and brown hair was standing at her door, hands in her pockets. Ruby opened the door and looked into the woman's eyes, "Don't you have a key?"

"Nice to see you too." Neo said with false attitude, walking into the apartment with two grocery bags. "I got you some things for the week."

"Oh?" Ruby said, feigning surprise, "What I get? What I get? What I get?"

"Slow down a moment!" Neo chuckled, setting the bags down on the counter next to the refrigerator. "Just a gallon of milk and two boxes of waffles for breakfast and a few boxes of instant-dinners to get you through the week."

"Neo, two boxes and a gallon of milk with two boxes of those dinners are going to get me through a month!" Ruby joked, though it wasn't well received. "Sorry."

"I need to work on your humor." Neo pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance as she stocked the empty fridge. "Alright, so... About work today-" Ruby instantly snapped to attention at the mention of working as the shorter woman pulled out a blue folder and set it upon the table, "-I'm not exactly sure on what I need to do myself, so I don't know what you need to do." She calmly spoke as she set down a large packet, one that Ruby instantly recognized, "So, Junior said that he told you of the new tenant next door?" The red-clad teen nodded easily, "Okay. Um, he and I pretty much set up her place, except for the bathroom. I just need to do some plumbing and make sure it all works." Neo packed up her papers into a folder and stood straight up from the counter before turning for the door, "I want you with me in case I need help."

"Paperwork for the bathroom?" The teen quipped, only to be knocked upside the head. "Ow, what was that for?!"

"For not respecting my job!" Neo cracked, pointing her index finger near the teens face, "And because that's two poor jokes and at three you die."

"You won't hurt me."

"Really?" The shorter woman raised an eyebrow as she peered back towards her taller assistant. "Wanna say that again?"

"No, no." Ruby shook her head quickly, "I won't challenge it, _or you_ , again today."

"Good girl." Neo headed for the door, wagging her left index finger to the teen behind her, indicating for her to follow the leader. "Now let's go make a living."

Ruby nodded and picked up a book from the table. It was just a short notebook that she used to make additional notes if needed. Ruby was hired on early as Neo's personal assistant, giving her something to do in her spare time, while also helping her gain much needed experience. Of course there was the main reason: the more Ruby worked with Neo, the longer she could stay in her apartment.

The duo walked out of Ruby's apartment together and down the hall towards her soon-to-be new neighbor's home, which was similar to hers only newer furniture. "Alright, park it right here and I'll do what I have to do." Neo's finger pointed towards the wall next to the threshold of the bathroom while she herself flipped on the lights and went to work.

Ruby sat outside the bathroom and opened her book with a pencil in hand, waiting to hear anything from her boss while turning to a blank page and sketching whatever came to her mind, "So you two did some work today, eh?"

"Not us two entirely, we had help." The response was easy, but strained. Ruby could tell that her friend was trying to work a pipe. "We used some of the maintenance guys. No way in hell am I carrying all of this stuff alone."

"Oh." Ruby nodded began sketching, though even herself wasn't sure what she was drawing just yet. "Do you, uh… Need my help?" She asked curiously as well as timidly, "you sound like you're having a hard time in there?"

"No, no, I'm fine. Just keep doing whatever you're doing."

"But I feel useless right now?"

"Welcome to the working world, hun," the woman quipped easily, "where the work doesn't matter until you get paid."

"You don't pay me though." Neo reached around the corner of the threshold and harshly flicked the girl seated on the other side, nailing Ruby behind the ear. "Ow!"

"You are cruisin' for a bruisin' today, aren't ya?"

"Abuse! Abuse! Workmen's abuse!" Neo chuckled playfully as Ruby continued to sound the alarm. "Call OSHA! Call… Oh, who else would I call?"

"Vale's office of safety would take that call and investigate where OSHA would just ensure that you get compensated." The shorter woman grunted as she popped the tightened pipe loose, allowing the water to flow. "Damn, took it long enough!"

"I thought it was the other way around?"

"Maybe somewhere else, but that's how it works in Vale, honey." Neo assured. "It's just how the departments work with one another. Synergy."

"Oh, I see."Ruby wrote down the notes of that conversation, including the part about OSHA,just for kicks. "Anything else going on in there?"

"Nope, just that Junior needs to lighten up on the pipes a bit. Write that down."

Ruby giggled as she did so, even though she knew that she and Neo would actually have to talk to the big man himself about this. If anything, he should be loosening what he tightened. However, as she did she saw a golden opportunity; "Hey, uh... I have a question?" Neo hummed an affirmative answer, causing the teen to continue. "I don't have any schoolwork..."

"Uh huh..." Neo said, knowing the question was delayed, but coming.

"And it doesn't look like you need my help at all..."

"Get on with it." The women chided in a sing-song manner.

"My friends are doing Lazer Tag across the street, and I-"

"Yes, you can go." Neo said with a small smile, moving her bangs out of her face with her wrist. She knew where the younger girl was going with the conversation before she even heard the full question. "Besides, the last two or three times they've done that you've opted to stay here, knowing full well you were done with whatever you needed to do... Why is that?"

"Uh... No reason, just didn't feel like going." Ruby lied. Her real reasons was not one to be revealed so easily. Actually, Ruby was known for keeping her secrets just that, even from Junior and Neo.

"You're an awful liar, you know that?" Neo flicked the young girl's head again, causing her to look back in feigned pain, "You have a tell where you stutter and touch your index fingers together. I'd _love_ to gamble against you." Ruby slumped a little, but Neo didn't take back her comment. That was something that the young girl was used to: Neo calling out her liar tells. "So what time are you gonna go?"

"We're meeting each other at about eight, so about then. What time is this new tenant coming in?"

"She _said_ after seven, but we don't exactly know if that's true."

"Why's that?"

"I dunno. Something about her seemed like she wasn't exactly looking to be on time." Neo scrunched her face a bit after getting the sink faucet to work, the running water staying on for a moment before dying away. "I dunno. Maybe I'm just paranoid."

"She signed everything, right?"

"She said she would after seeing the room."

"Oh…" Ruby knew exactly what that meant. Not signing right away meant that they probably would be a no-show. It happens more often than not, especially recently. "Well at least she sounds interested." Ruby sighed as she noted a mistake, nearly breaking the eraser on the paper. "Junior said she's going to Beacon?"

"I have no idea." Neo sung with a shrug of her shoulders as she finally getting the toilet working, an audible flush resonating through the apartment. "Holy crap the plumbing in this place _actually_ works!" The teen smiled easily at the quip, but chose not to add on. She felt that you could only disrespect a building for so long before it gets back to your insolence. " You know, if you want you can head back to your room and take a nap or something. I know you'll be out late so I'll just come down and wake you up at like, seven-thirty."

"You mean it?"

"Would I lie to you?" The shorter woman asked with a chuckle and a raised brow.

"Uh… I mean…"

"Cheeky little-!" Neo rolled up her packet and started swinging as Ruby rolled away and to her feet, her stance indicating that she was ready to run from the fury of the shorter, multi-colored hair woman, "Go get some sleep before I get my hands on you!" Ruby made her way for the door, being weary as she passed her friend whose large packet was still rolled up. Silver eyes peered down at the woman, asking not an unspoken question. "No, I don't need you right now. Everything else was done well before you got here."

"Oh, I see." Ruby said, mildly disappointed. Part of her wanted to go out with her friends tonight, yet part of her wanted to stay in like she had the last few weeks in her cozy apartment with Neo. _'Well, it's this or I never hear the end of it from Pyrrha...'_ She thought.

Neo watched closely, contemplating a swipe at the passing teen, but decided against it. Ruby was just joking and punishing her for it wouldn't be right. "I think everything's all good here, and the rest of the building is set. I hope this little lady is actually serious about this."

"Yeah, I hope so, too." Ruby agreed with a nod as she exited the newer apartment. Neo wasn't far behind, but also wasn't going to follow her worker into her apartment. The two locked eyes as the latter walked by, nodding as Ruby closed the door. She easily threw off her shirt off and threw it over a chair to keep it wrinkle free before jumping into bed, kicking and eventually wrapping the covers around her. It didn't take her long before she finally made it to sleep, smiling as she anxiously wondered about just how much fun as possible tonight. The outings with her friends, be it at Lazer Tag or at someone's house, were always a blast, and she knew that it didn't happen nearly enough. _'Here's to a long night...'_

* * *

 **Back again, are we?**

 **So in case you're confused, here's the rub. Beacon is a level in-between high school and college, standing as a high-level prep school for big time careers, such as medicine, trades, broadcasting and more. Ruby attends, being granted admission two years early thanks to her hard work and the support of Neo and Junior, a married couple who hired her and rent an apartment to her in exchange for her work. She is Neo's assistant.**

 **Ruby and Yang _are not_ related here.**

 **Ships will be around, there will be a semblance of them, but in most cases they won't be confirmed unless explicitly said. And literally 98% of this is fluff, the farthest I'm willing to go is locking lips. Maybe having characters sharing a bed together, but that'll be way later if anything.**

 **The next few chapters will introduce more to the story, including characters and plot. I had to explain that little bit, however, to avoid any confusion and perhaps avoid an angry review saying "OMGOD WTF IS DIS U BUTCHERED IT ALL U SUK" Or however people write hate messages these days.**

 **That being said, how was it? Obviously there's stuff to work on, but most of it is just expanding on plot points, I feel. But that's not up to me, it's up to you! Will you read it? Are you interested? Or is this a swing and a miss, one strike and I'm out sort of deal? Let me know! I'd love to hear from you all!**

 **If you have any questions or just want to talk, feel free to PM me! I always respond at some point. I'll be working diligently to perfect the next few chapters and get them out to you, even if it means working through classes (right, like I haven't done that before?). This is one that I want to stay committed to, and I hope you all stay for the ride, as well!**

 **Hope you enjoyed, and as always,**

 **Until Next Time.**


	2. Late Night Out pt 1

**And we're back!**

 **Some of you seemed to enjoy it, and that's all I needed for motivation. Now, after a bit of tweaking I can happily give you the second chapter.** **Don't be fooled by the word count on this one, it's about 70% dialogue at this point. Sometimes I can't stop myself.**

 **Also, despite this being a "Part 1", the second part isn't next chapter. There will be multiple "Late Night Out" chapters, so it's easier to just keep the same name, just in multiple parts. You'll see this happen a few times over the course of the story.**

 **I'll address a few other things at the end, but that's for later. For now, though, enjoy!**

* * *

A small nudge on her shoulder forced her from the realm of sleep. Her face scrunched in annoyance as she threw the covers over her head to hide away from the world. "Oh, no-no-no-no, you are _not_ doing this!" Neo said, using both hands now to push and pull the teen out of bed.

"No!" Ruby whined as the comforter was yanked away from her face. "Not like this!"

"You said you wanted me to come and get you!"

"No, _you_ volunteered!" Neo pouted as her own argument was turned against her by the once slumbering teen, who tried to sit up in her bed while rubbing her eyes. "I take it it's time to go?"

"Only if you want."

Ruby stretched her arms out before nodding, peering up at the woman she called both a landlord, and a friend. "Thanks for coming to get me, Neo."

The shorter women nodded and stood up. "Well, just so you know, the new tenant is here checking out the room next door if you want to meet her. If not, it's alright. I'm sure you'll get to know her at some point." Neo rubbed the back of her head and sighed, "I uh... I'm gonna go, then... If I don't see you off then have fun tonight, alright?" Ruby nodded and smiled slightly, but the moment Neo left she dropped her head into her hands, sitting along the side of her bed. She groaned in annoyance.

In reality, she couldn't have thanked Neo enough for waking her up when she did. Not five minutes ago she was trapped in a dream that kept getting worse and worse but for some reason, no matter how bad it got, she couldn't wake up. The screams, the heat, _those eyes_ …

She's seen it before… Too many times… Those soulless, blank, silver eyes staring back at her, unmoving, unblinking…

She huffed before shaking her head free of her thoughts. Despite how often she's had that nightmare and despite how used to it she's become, it always jarred her. But recently, she's been getting better at it. Normally she'll sleep right through the night and can sometimes go hours without realizing that she had a dream the night before. Even if she had one, she could sleep right through it.

 _'I wonder if I'm a lucid dreamer?'_ Ruby thought as she walked out of her bedroom and into the bathroom, splashing a handful of cold water in her face to help wake her up. One glance in a mirror and she knew that she wasn't too upset, and could even flash a smile towards her reflection. _'Maybe someday, Ruby. Maybe someday…'_ She turned and walked back into her room, looking at the time on the alarm clock. It read seven-forty-two. "Eh, I got time." She said to nobody in particular, pulling out a small, leather bound book. She picked up a nearby pencil and began to write. This was her dream, and in some cases nightmare, journal, which she hasn't parted with in almost three years. Thankfully, there were enough pages, though she would have to make additions soon.

When she peered at the clock again, it was seven-fifty. She thought that was a good time and put her journal away. Slipping her shoes on and throwing a familiar red nylon jacket over herself, she pocketed her keys and walked out. When she opened the door, she found Neo and Junior with the new tenant; a younger woman with long, black hair, topped with a black bow on her head. Ruby and Neo met each other's gazes, as did Junior. He sighed, uninterested in the red-themed girl. The new tenant looked back as well once she noticed the other two had turned their attention.

"Oh! There she is!" Neo said with a smile, "This is your neighbor, Ruby. Ruby, this is Blake."

"Nice to meet you." Ruby said as she walked over towards the trio, extending a hand once finally making it to her destination. The older girl stoically met her handshake.

"Likewise." Her voice was smooth, but clearly not entirely mature just yet.

"Blake, you said you were going to Beacon, right?" Neo inquired, a small smile stuck to her face. Blake easily nodded, "Well, Ruby goes there as well! On Monday you can show her the ropes, right Rubes?"

"Y-yeah, sure." Ruby slapped herself internally for stuttering, "I'd be happy to."

"Don't you have somewhere to be, Rose?" Junior asked, annoyance riddled his voice.

"Oh, give her a break, will you!" Neo backhanded the larger mans chest, though his recoil showed he either didn't feel it or didn't care.

"No, he's right, I gotta go." Ruby defended the man, though Neo wasn't entirely sure why. Still, she nodded and let the teen go. "Nice meeting you, Blake."

The bow-wearing girl nodded in silence and turned back to the couple. Junior opened the door and the trio entered as Ruby entered the stairwell.

She quickly walked down the stairs and out the back door to the alley. She knew the Lazer Tag place, Lazer Team, was out in front of the apartment complex, but didn't care. She used the back way too much and now it was just force of habit. She walked around the side of the building and out to the sidewalk under the dim light of the setting sun. Between her and Lazer Team was a small highway with a median separating the two directions. Last year the city decided to put up a metal walkway over the highway, which connected the Terrace View and the strip mall where Lazer Team was located. There were multiple other general stores in that strip, which really made it easier for the tenants to traverse on foot, rather than risk the annoyance of highway traffic.

Ruby walked over the highway and sighed. The sun was just barely over the horizon still and the night air was starting to cool. Vale's weather in late September could go either way, really. Luckily, it was still warm... Over Sixty Degrees, at least. The red clad girl walked off the walkway up the sidewalk towards her target.

She saw Yang in the distance walk into the store, but was helpless to get her attention. _'At least she won't be waiting long.'_ Ruby thought happily. The last thing she wanted to do was keep everyone waiting.

It was a short walk up to the building, but she finally made it. Walking in she was greeted by the crisp, cool air conditioning. The front area had various arcade games to play to pass the time. Past that and to the far left side of the building was the front desk, and to the right of that was a lounge for people to rest up from the last game or for the next game.

"Ruby!" A familiar voice called. Ruby turned to face the owner, who had already made it to her. Yang wrapped the girl up in a massive and crushing bear hug, lifting her off the ground. "You made it!"

"I told you I'd try, didn't I?" The red clad girl choked out, gasping for air beneath the might of the blonde's hug. "Can you please-?!"

She didn't have to finish her sentence before Yang complied, setting her friend down lightly and allowing her to catch her breath. "Sorry, it's just you haven't been here the last two times. I'm just glad to see you here." Once Ruby indicated that she was fine, the blonde wrapped her arm around the younger teen's shoulder and led her in, "Pyrrha and Nora are already here. Pyrrha's in the bathroom though. Also, she brought Jaune." Ruby sighed in mild annoyance, "I know, I know. But hey, she really wants a chance at him, so..."

"Right. I'll try not to blow this for her."

"Good girl." They didn't have an issue with Jaune, it's just that he was like Ren... And those two cramped the style of the four girls.

The duo walked to the front counter and were greeted by the owner, an older man with a balding whom they have come to know over the last year. Constantly coming back to the place has left them with a great reputation. They were even Prime Members, which meant they got three games for free every week. Luckily, the man allowed those games to stack for Prime's, so if you missed a week, you can use them on top of the three next week. Prime Membership was expensive, mind you, but lasted a full year and was completely worth it.

"You get nine free games, Rubes." Yang nudged playfully, "Try not to use them all in one place, huh?"

"Oh, don't worry about me. Heck, I'd share them with all of you if I can." Yang rustled Ruby's hair, messing up the already messy hair.

"Wow, you know, despite how it looks, your hair is really soft."

"I know how to take care of it... What little I have, at least." Ruby admitted.

"Yeah, but you choose to keep it short, right?"

"Ease of use."

"Ah." Nodding, the blonde turned to the old man at the counter, "Uh, she has a bunch of free games and I'm just going to use my three for now." The old man took their membership cards and scanned them as a number of receipts printed out, those were their tickets. They were good for as many games, now.

"Have fun ladies." The old man said, handing back their cards and tickets to enter the games. Yang led Ruby back to the lounge area where Nora was (im)patiently sitting.

"Finally you came back! And you brought me a flower!" She jumped to her feet and wrapped Ruby up in a hug, spinning the girl around before she could even have time to react, laughing the whole way.

"Who says affection isn't prevalent?" Ruby barely choked out, once again feeling her ribs become dust under the force of Nora's hug, topped with the damage from Yang's. Tried as she might, she could not wiggle herself free of this one. Nora and Yang could be very affectionate at times.

"Good job using that word properly, Ruby." Yang gave an approving thumbs up and a smile, not bothering to help at all. "Well, you seem to have everything under control. I think the next game starts in a few minutes, if anyone really cares. We can just go whenever."

Nora finally put her younger friend down, patted her head to straighten out Ruby's disheveled brunnette hair, then sat next to the blonde. Ruby followed suit after regaining her bearings. They all sat in relative silence, waiting for Jaune and Pyrrha to arrive... Or at least come out of hiding. "Alright..." Yang began, her voice low so no one else around the table can hear, "Who here thinks they're getting laid?"

"Ew, Yang!"

"Me! Me!" Nora declared, raising her hands excitedly.

Yang looked at the red-themed girl, who stuck to her guns. "I'm staying out of this one." She said, keeping a hand up whilst shaking her head.

"Aw, come on! You can get back at her for all the nasty comments she's been saying! It'll be fun!" Yang insisted.

"Nope. I'm out."

"It might even shut her up, you know?"

"I'm rubber, she's glue." The red-themed teen argued. "Besides, I know she's not being malicious." Despite what she just said, even Ruby's mind disagreed. She wanted Pyrrha to be joking, but at times couldn't be too sure."

"Ruby." Nora admonished, "It's not fun to be taking the brunt of the attacks. Sometimes you have to dish 'em out as you take 'em!"

"It's not my place and I don't want in. Personal space, guys."

Yang rolled her eyes and shook her head, rather disappointed in Ruby's lack of a lust for revenge. "Ah fine. More fun for the rest of us, right Nora?"

"Right!" The orange haired girl cheered. Ruby sat back in her chair as the trio waited. Either for their AWOL friends to arrive or for the game to start, whichever came first.

Yang sat forward into the table, using her hands to support her head. She was eying the red-clad girl next to her with curious interest. The group had only known Ruby for a year, maybe a year and a half now, and yet they knew little about her. Yang and Nora came on to good terms with the younger girl very quickly, knowing full well that a fifteen-year-old as a third year at Beacon would mean trouble. It was always nice to have a group to back you up.

Pyrrha, on the other hands, was different. She wasn't flat out mean, but she _did_ take advantage of the younger girls kind personality at times. It was very apparent that Ruby didn't like to cause trouble and fighting back was almost a foreign concept to her, it seemed. Pyrrha would take any shot she could; even though this was the same to everyone, it seemed as though she went after Ruby the most. Yang didn't like it one bit, but also knew that the only argument she had to stopping Pyrrha was 'she's our friend.' to which Pyrrha would respond with 'friends mess with each other.'

 _'That may be true_ ', The blonde thought, ' _But I'm not sure if Ruby gets that Pyrrha's joking..._ ' Lilac eyes peered around the room as she thought a bit more. For as long as the group had known the younger girl, she had always been a mystery. Very quiet, under spoken. It was worrying, but then again, they couldn't help but think that it was only because she so young in an advanced education facility like Beacon. ' _We_ could _do more to help her..._ '

"Hey! _Finally_ you're back!" Nora called in her usual, energetic tone, bringing Yang back out of her thoughts. She looked up and saw Pyrrha, putting her hair back in a ponytail. "Where'd you go?"

"Well, I'm not going to run around all night with make-up on." The taller girl said. "Oh, hey Ruby. You made it."

Pyrrha's voice a more... Unenthusiastic, but Ruby still returned her greet with a simple wave without saying anything. Pyrrha chuckled as Yang began her questions. "So where's Jaune?" The blonde inquired slyly.

Pyrrha's eyes went wide, catching the undertone of the question, "Uh, I don't know? He was out here when I went in."

"Oh?" The blonde asked slyly, "You _sure_ you don't know where he is"

"Where who is?" A voice called from behind the blonde. Turning around, Yang saw Jaune, an average sized teen with a medium build, standing right behind her, rubbing the back of his head. "What's up?"

"And just where did _you_ go?"

"Well, Pyrrha, while you freshened up... Or whatever you were doing in there, I realized I had no money on me. So I ran back to the car, went to the ATM down the block and picked some up, thank you very much." Jaune answered matter-of-factly, holding both of his hands to his hips as Pyrrha would often do to him.

Yang deflated a bit, but it wasn't enough for the others, save for Ruby, to notice. She was really looking forward to ripping into Pyrrha a bit. If Pyrrha's motto was friends mess with each other, then Yang's just became 'If you can dish it you can take it'.

"Saturn game is about to begin. Saturn game is about to begin." A voice over the buildings PA called, once again lunging Yang back into the realm of reality. She shook herself free and joined the other four of her group as they stood up and walked to the arena entrance. A card scanner was at the front for members to sign in.

Inside there were two rooms, a red-light illuminated the room where the team building/preparing, and the next room which held all of the suits. Twelve people walked inside. Members entered last so they could scan their cards, which was common courtesy.

Yang scanned first, then Ruby. Nora was third, then Pyrrha and finally Jaune. Ruby followed Yang to the back corner of the room, the younger opting to sit and wait rather than stand lean against the wall like the others. She had taken her jacket off out in the lounge, but kept her more personal possessions with her, as one normally should.

The old man walked in and closed the door and began to count. "Alright, we have twelve people. One group of all members and one group of non-members... Let's do a vote, shall we? How many people want to do members versus non?" Only Pyrrha and one other women from the second group raised their hands, much to the amusement of the others. "Alright then. I'll make the teams. When I point to you, go in and pick up a flashing red vest."

The old man pointed at three people from the other group, and they entered. Then he peered over to the members. He paused to think, but not for too long. "You," He pointed at Ruby. "You." He pointed at Yang. "And you." He pointed at Pyrrha.

Ruby slumped a little as she walked in. She liked Pyrrha, but felt as though the feeling wasn't reciprocated at times. ' _I guess I have to deal with this then..._ ' She picked up a vest, not caring much for the name, as members had to scan their cards on the vest in order to gain credit for their games.

The vests were upper body vests, with a bit of heft to them. There were electronic wiring encased in durable plastic cases, formed to fit said vests. Lights on the chest, back and shoulders indicated what you needed to hit to gain a kill. When the lights went off, you were out and had only five seconds until you came back online and able to start shooting again.

The weapon attached to the vest with a thick wire, also known as a phazer, was made of the same material as its counterpart. A light on the inside indicated that you could also hit the weapon to gain a kill. On the underside was a black heat-pad; the only way to fire was if you had one hand on the heat-pad, and one hand on the trigger. This was to prevent cheesy, around the corner kills that were way more prevalent in the early days of Lazer Team.

The next team walked in and picked up blue vests. Pyrrha and Jaune had eyed each other, out of fun. Nora was busy taunting the entire Red team, leading to Yang taunting her right back. Pyrrha leaned in close to Ruby, "Red team for the red girl, eh?"

"Mhm." Was all the reply she got. Though, Pyrrha wasn't really sure what to expect. A poor excuse at small talk was all she could say.

The old man walked up the front of the room and put his hand on a button. "Alright, everyone! You all know the rules. Fifteen minutes, Team Annihilation, go!" With that, the doors opened, and the games began.

* * *

Ruby walked through the first section slowly. The arena was massive; a two-story unlit maze, only illuminated by lights flashing to the beat of techno funk. There were four bases to gain points (save for your own base, there was three), with two neutral bases.

Somewhere along the lines she had been separated with the others, but knew she'd find them soon. This place wasn't _that_ big.

As she walked up to a ramp, she could hear footsteps moving along the second story. They were frantic, speed-walking even. Someone was chasing someone, and there was only one way to find out if they needed help, or needed to _die._

Ruby began her ascent up the ramp, keeping her phazer forward. If anyone came down the ramp in front of her, she would be ready. Turning a corner, she saw a red flash kneeling by the wall, green rays in front of her, indicating that she was in danger. Ruby walked back a bit to a window staged ever so tactically and found her targets; two blues, who she could easily tell where Jaune and Nora (mostly due to Nora's laughter).

She opened fire on the two, their blue-lit plates turning off. They both instantly locked eyes with her and fell back behind the nearest wall. Whomever they were hitting had backup now, making it an even fight. Ruby turned and continued up the ramp, only to discover the one she saved was indeed Pyrrha. "What's up?" Ruby asked with a playful grin.

"Oh you know," Pyrrha shrugged, "Getting zapped all day, getting saved by you."

"You make it sound like a bad thing."

"I had them, you know." The taller athlete stood up, towering over the younger girl.

"Oh? When was that, when you were hiding behind the wall with a ray of phazer fire?" Emerald eyes quickly blinked, being completely taken by surprise. It wasn't often that Ruby talked back, but when she did she would be _sassy_. "Uh huh, that's what I thought. Now come on, we got them on the-" She was cut off by two figures doing an evident walk of shame down the ramp. It was indeed Jaune and Nora, with Yang right behind them, constantly shooting them so they wouldn't light up again.

"Woohoo! Take that, Blue scum!" The blonde cheered. Pyrrha and Ruby sat, wide-eyed, but not surprised. "Whoa, was it you two who drove them to me? Nice!"

"Well, Ruby did the work, I just got shot at, I guess." Pyrrha sighed. She walked past Yang as a voice called 'Sixty-seconds remaining' from overhead. "If you'll excuse me."

"What's up with her?"

"I... I don't know." Ruby admitted, worriedly. She now was concerned that she may have made Pyrrha upset in any way.

"Ah, we'll work it out later, come on! We got less than a minute to nail Jaune and Nora again!" Yang took Ruby by the collar and practically dragged her down the ramp. However, their would-be targets were waiting around the corner, sinister smirks on their faces. "Uh..."

"Run away?"

"Yeah..."

* * *

 _Two hours later..._

Yang sat on the old couch in the lounge and sighed, taking in long, labored breaths. It was just past ten-thirty, and they had been playing almost nonstop. Ruby dropped herself next to the blonde with a cold bottle of water in hand. "I can't… Believe... We lost... That last one..." She said in-between heavy breaths. Sure, she had great cardio, but the last string of games left her physically worn.

"It was _so close_ , too! We were on such a good winning streak, too." Yang sighed dejectedly. "Oh well. I say, we skip the next round."

"I can get behind that."

"Aw, you're skipping the next one?" Nora asked, almost sounding like a whine.

"Nora, we've played five games in a row." Yang pleaded, "Ruby only has three left because she let me use a free one. We're tired..."

"Eh, I say we let them rest." Pyrrha acknowledged, "Besides, after a thorough whooping we gave them last game, I'd need to rest too!"

"Coming from the girl who's been at the bottom of the board all day." Ruby happily chirped, smiled laced across her face. Yang grinned happily as Nora and Jaune both gasped, the former a little more theatrically than the other. "Hey, your score and Jaune's score combined still doesn't beat Yang's!"

"Yeah, and I barely made _third_ place!"

"Wow," Nora said, her eyes wide and her tone of voice showed that she was rather impressed. "Notice how they wouldn't trash talk when they were winning?"

"Yeah," Jaune agreed with a smirk, quick to his girlfriend's aid, "I wonder… A shine of poor sportsmanship?"

Pyrrha feigned a flabbergasted tone "From Ruby? No. But from Yang…"

"Are you calling me a bad influence?" Yang gasped, covering her mouth in horror.

Pyrrha sarcastically waved her off, "Oh no, I would _never_ say that."

"But I would!"

"Nobody asked you, Nora!"

Ruby jumped in after gaining her composure, having a giggling fit from the display before her. "If I may intervene…"

"Why would you?" Pyrrha quipped quickly, only to have a swift rebuttal fired back.

"Well if we're talking about bad influences…" The red themed teen bounced her head around as if she was considering options before shrugging, "I'd say all of you are bad influences on me!"

Jaune covered his chest in feigned pain as a loud roar erupted from the blonde beside the younger teen. "Oh that hurts, Ruby."

"I feel sick." Nora gasped, "Where did we go wrong?!" She grabbed a hold of Jaune's shoulders and shook him back and forth wildly, only to have a familiar athletic teen poke her shoulders. "Yes, Pyrrha?"

"There's no reason to make a scene, guys." The emerald eyed teen admonished with a small smile, "I'd be proud if I were all of you. After all, she wouldn't have such a comeback if it wasn't for us!"

"Yeah!" Nora cheered, giving both of the teens beside her a high-five after releasing the poor boy from her grasp. The trio split away, preparing for the next game and left their two friends back to rest.

The last game that they played it was Ruby and Yang with a bunch of new players against the trio before them with other new players. Needless to say, they got destroyed. The duo's first loss of the night.

"So what's up tonight?" Yang curiously inquired. "Beacon's little gem's got some sass, huh?"

"Is _that_ what everyone calls me?" Ruby fired back with advent interest, raising her right eyebrow as her head tilted.

"N-no! No, that's not it…" Ruby chuckled as her blonde friend stuttered, "It's just… Something that, uh…"

"Yaaaaaaaaang…"

"Nobody else calls you that." Yang finally admonished, a deep sigh following her words. "It's just me and Nora that call you that in private. Kinda code for anyone outside of the group, you know?"

"And why would you need a code word for me?"

 _'Damnit!'_ "Well… You know…" Yang awkwardly rubbed the back of her head as she shifted in her seat, trying to find any way to change the topic. "Just in case someone wants to listen in to the conversation, you know? Lead off the eavesdroppers a bit…" She bobbed her head around, contemplating the strength of her excuse. Ruby undid the cap of her water bottle and took a drink, slimming her eyelids to slim narrows towards the blonde, who blushed in response.

"Uh huh, sure. I believe that." Her sarcastic tone of voice was met by a slow shake of her head. "Now I have to make a code word with Pyrrha for _you_."

"You don't have the guts!"

"Don't I? Miss _'Little Sun Dragon'_?"

"How _dare_ you use my translated name!" Yang gasped in mock pain and surprise, "This means _war_!"

"Oh let's see how that works. After all, who's been topping the leader board all day?"

"How's your back doing, miss _'I'll do more work than Pyrrha tonight'_?"

"Are we just calling each other 'Miss' now?" Ruby asked honestly, "I mean, we can do so much better."

Yang sat back and sighed heavily as everyone around them headed for the prep-room door, leaving them and a handful of others behind. "Yeah, we _could_ do better, could we?"

Ruby brushed her bangs away from her eyes and nodded in agreement as the room began to silence. About a dozen other people had shown up and about a dozen more were set to show up before the night was out, and the bigger the games, the more chaotic it was, and usually the more chaotic games were… Not fun. At least to her and Nora. Pyrrha and Yang, on the other hand, enjoyed the challenge of having more competitors, or as they put it: Prey.

"So…" Yang trailed off, relaxing her body in an attempt to rest. "How are you doing?"

"Are we reduced to small talk, now?" Ruby quipped with a smile, causing Yang to reciprocate the action.

"No, no, you've got it all wrong." The blonde admonished, scratching the back of her head, "Just that it's been a while since we've been able to sit down and talk it out like this. Just wanted to see how everything's going at home."

Silver eyes blinked as their owner bounced her head in an approving nod. "Ah, fine." Was the simple response. "Life goes on, you know? Same stuff, different day."

"Hah, yup." Yang agreed, popping the 'p' at the end as she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"So how about you?"

"Hm?"

"How are things at home for you? How's your dad, how's working with your dad?"

"Oh, oh!" Yang's lilac eyes blinked as she focused herself on the conversation at hand. "Things have been great, for the most part. I mean, work is work, you know?"

"I mean, what do you do at the hospital?"

Yang was quick to respond, "Mostly reception stuff." She worked at the hospital with her father, working towards a nursing career. Luckily, this counted as an internship, which meant that she wouldn't have to worry about it when she's actually _in_ college. "Recently, though, they've had me do some shadowing of the other nurses. I might be moved up to some bedside manner work soon, or I might stay where I am now."

"What does your dad do, anyway?" Ruby inquired curiously. She knew he worked there, but never actually knew just what his job was. She almost never saw him, either, even though they've met a few times.

"He's general physician with a side skill in some surgery, mostly pediatrics."

The two peered over at the screen, watching the moderately sized game progress. It looked as though it was two-teamed brawl, and Jaune and Pyrrha were on a different team from Nora, who was dominating overall. "Is that what you want to do?"

The blonde shrugged, "Eh. I mean, there's a lot of money in pediatrics, but at the same time, I've kinda had my eye on Anesthesiologist."

"Anna-whosawhat-now?"

"Anesthesiologist." She raised an eyebrow as Ruby made a curious face, shaking her head with a shrug. "You know, one of those people who gives people the laughing gas before surgery."

"Oh, oh! One of those? Really?"

"Yup. Big bucks to be made in drugging people asleep for a few hours." Yang smirked.

Curiosity peaked for Ruby, however. "Is that really all there is to it?"

"No, there's so much more. But that's for another time." She ruffled Ruby's hair once again, much to the annoyance of the younger teen. "I don't want to bore you."

"Oh, it's gonna take a lot of nothing happening to bore me, Yang. You know that."

"True." She chuckled. "What about you? How's work been for you, and how have your parents been?"

Silver eyes went wide as Ruby shifted her head away from her friend for just a moment. "Uh, yeah, works been fine." She stuttered. "I mean, I do paperwork and help with money transactions. There's not really much _to_ do, over there."

Yes, Yang and the others knew of her job. She never kept that a secret from them. Plus, her work with Neo was a viable excuse sometimes if she didn't want to do something. But she could never make the shorter woman seem like the villain, not after all of this time.

"I was lucky enough to get away today, though!"

"I noticed. Got all of the work done, huh?"

To be honest, she wasn't sure. But, that wouldn't stop her from making a joke, now would it? "I'm sure there's more to do. But, it's like you're always telling me…"

"Why do the day when you can put it off 'till tomorrow?"

"Bingo!"

Yang smirked, once again peering over to see the game reach it's quarter mark. "So everything's fine with you and work, how's the folks?"

And that's where the lies commence. Ruby never had the heart to tell her friends that she lived alone. When she first met them, they seemed so interested in her, so friendly and she hadn't met that kind of emotion from someone her age in a long time. She was also afraid that they would be worried about her day in and day out, and that would be just too many people worrying over her. So, she told one little fib, and that turned into the biggest lie she'd ever told, continuing to this day.

"Y-yeah! They're good." She tried to think a little more, tried to figure a way out of this, but was unsuccessful. "It's, uh… You know how it works out there… We're trying."

 _'Yeah, someone's trying, isn't she?'_ She thought to herself, knowing this couldn't go on much longer. Something would break someday.

Luckily, that day was not today, as Yang seemed to buy the familiar response. "Yeah, it's tough out there, especially with the economy still… I get it." She turned her attention from the screen back to the teen before her. "Still, it just seems like no matter how highly you talk of them, I never see them."

"What do you mean?"

"Well…" Yang closed her eyes, trying to think of a way to justify her curiosity. However, she just couldn't. All she wanted to do was see what kind of home her friend had, just to make sure she was safe within that apartment. "Sorry, I trailed off... So, I mean... Yeah... I'm kinda curious, you know? I wanna meet the parents of the best little sister I never had."

Ruby panicked a little. She was touched by Yang's words, knowing full well that the blonde and her have had a relatively close relationship over the past year, despite not really knowing much about the other. Still, the blonde was totally justified in her curiosity… The problem was that, even if Ruby hadn't lied in the first place, she still wouldn't be able to answer the question as to where her parents are. After a confusing string of events in her childhood, she just doesn't know what happened to them. "I, uh... Well, I actually live in the apartments across the street... B-but, my parents work very hard, you see... And, uh, it's tough for them to be home a lot... They gotta pay the bills somehow, you know?"

The blonde teen nodded in understanding, though caught the stutter clear as day, "Yeah, getting into Beacon must've cost a lot..."

"Uh, yeah!" Ruby agreed. She didn't have the heart to tell Yang she got in on an academic scholarship opportunity that Beacon had.

"Well, that's too bad."Yang pulled Ruby in tiredly for a one armed hug. "I mean, I'm sure I'll meet them eventually, right?" Ruby nodded, barely able to reciprocate the hug, given just how she was positioned between the chair and Yang's underarm. "Uh... also, what are the chances of you being available next weekend?"

"You mean for the lock in?" The young teen mumbled.

"Nope. I was actually planning on skipping that in order to have you, Pyrrha and Nora over my house from Saturday to Sunday. A little games, fun, anything else we can think of. You know."

"Yeah, sure. I'll see if I can make myself open..." Ruby realized something as her mind drifted, "Hey, umm... Can I ask you something now?"

"Sure, go for it!"

"What do you know about a new student coming in?" Silver eyes gazed quizzically into lilac orbs. The blonde was a gossip queen at Beacon... Well, sort of. She didn't spread any, she just knew a lot that went on...

"New student..." Yang thought hard for a moment, but couldn't remember hearing any news, "I've got nothing. Why?"

"Someone moved in next door to me and said she's attending Beacon. I thought, maybe, since she's next door to me, we could-"

"Initiate her into our friends group?" Ruby looked at Yang with a raised brow, to which the blonde replied, "Uh... Never mind. Dirty mind."

The red themed teen smacked her friends arm, much like Neo had done to her in the past, with a teasing tone, "Get out of the gutter!" The two shared a laugh whilst the game went on. They were both glad they got a moment to rest. Not only was this a good time for the two to talk and catch up, it also allowed them to see what would happen when you put the person carrying the team against the weights.

Needless to say, it wasn't pretty. Usually, Pyrrha is on top, being the athletic teen that she is gave her an upper hand, but tonight she seemed… Off. But, that was an issue to press later. The aforementioned trio may want one more round when they get out, or they may take a break. If Ruby and Yang joined them for that rest, it would give them about an hour of relaxation. An hour break for the red and yellow themed duo would leave them better rested for one last game or two.

As the silence grew more palpable between the two, the only noise within the building was that of the music through the loudspeakers and the voices of the rather loud guests nearby who hadn't made it into the last game. Nearby a monitor was propped on the wall which had the names of each member of each team. Right now it was a free for all frenzy. Nora was on top of the leader board, Pyrrha and Jaune were getting completely smoked. A clock below the board gave how much time was left in the match. Only two minutes...

Yang had an idea, "Hey," She looked at Ruby, "You think any of the pizza places around here would be open?"

Ruby thought for a moment, closing her eyes, "I don't think they'd deliver anymore tonight, but we can call and ask... What are you thinking?"

"Call and make an order for dinner for us all, of course!" She whipped out her phone and hit a few numbers, then began to speak into it. While Yang did this, Ruby realized that she hadn't eaten since she was at school. Her stomach grumbled, voicing its annoyance over the younger girl.

' _Oh, stop it, gut! You've been through worse than that..._ ' She thought. Peering up to the board she noticed that the clock had reached zero. The teams were beginning to walk back out of the arena. When Ruby turned back to the blonde, she was grabbing her keys out of her pocket, "I just got us a quick round, that ok?"

' _Anything is ok, really..._ ' "Yeah, that sounds good." Ruby replied with a thumbs up. "How much do I owe you?"

"I'll rip your arm off if your try to pay me back." Ruby blinked off the comment, that particular threat being used more than once by the nurse in training, "If they ask, tell them where I went. I'll be back in ten." And with that, she pulled out her car keys and departed, leaving Ruby all alone. For the moment at least.

The door out of the prep area opened and people walked out. Nora was first, smile on her face over her decisive victory. Pyrrha and Jaune were somewhere mixed in with the small crowd. They all made a b-line towards the younger girl, who tried her best not to panic from the sudden attention.

"Yeah!" Nora cheered, making 'pew pew' sounds towards the couple behind her. They both groaned as they sat at a table near Ruby's couch. "That was great!"

"Speak for yourself," Pyrrha replied, out of breath. "Now I know why you two wanted to take a break... Speaking of which-" She peered around, untying her ponytail to let her hair down for the first time in a few hours. "- Where is Yang?"

"She uh, went down to get a pizza for everyone. She said she'll be back in ten minutes..."

Pyrrha nodded as she ran her fingers through her long, pure red hair, accepting her young friends answer. The four sat in silence, mostly resting. Ruby looked at the clock on the screen; Ten-fifty-three... ' _I think I have enough time for one or two more tonight..._ '

After a few minutes of resting, Yang finally came back with a box in her hands. "Hello!" She sung as she walked over to her friends, "Alright, I got us a large round with pepperoni. Eat up!" Everyone made a grab for a slice, except for Ruby. She held back and waited for her friends to move away from the table. Nora, Pyrrha and Jaune were all blocking her way, but Yang had a straight shot at it. She grabbed a slice, picked up a napkin and handed it to her friend. Ruby gladly accepted and began to eat. There were ten pieces for five people, so everyone got two.

"Yang..." Ruby piped meekly after finishing her first slice, "Thank you."

Everyone began to thank her as well. Yang's only reply was a lone hand up, a smirk and a shake of her head.

* * *

Silver eyes cautiously peered out of the window. She had picked up a sniper's perch just over a 'courtyard' as they called it. It was just an open area with little cover by an enclosed, curvy ramp. The perch overlooked said ramp was well as the courtyard, the only way to that spot is to go all the way around and sneak behind whomever was there.

The game was free for all, as there weren't that many people there at this point. It was a slower night for the store, which was odd for a Saturday. Free for all may have been the name of the game, but Ruby knew that alliances could be made easily. She expected to see Pyrrha and Jaune for sure, also Yang and Nora. To her, however, being the lone wolf in a game like this was the best option. Sneak around without having to worry about anyone.

She heard footsteps on the ramp. Taking a peek, she saw the backs of two figures as they moved away from her. She readied her weapon, but was too late. They had turned the corner and were long gone by the time she had prepared herself. The two chose to walk out into the courtyard, but stopped. They were talking to someone. She couldn't tell what they were saying, though; the music was far too loud and the strobe and lazer lights stopped her from reading their lips. That someone appeared from around the opposite wall. Ruby could tell that it was Nora who appeared- the bright orange hair of the energetic teen was too good of an indicator. And judging by the voices of whom she was talking to, Ruby could tell that she had found Jaune and Pyrrha as well.

' _But where's Yang?'_ The younger teen pondered, but didn't worry about it for too long. She had prime opportunity right here; if she was fast enough, she could snipe all three of them without being seen. They would have five seconds before coming back online, but that didn't matter.

Ruby began to raise her phazer, poised to take out the trio below. "Don't even think about it." She felt a nudge on her shoulder and cursed under her breath. Turning around, she saw a familiar blonde looming over her, lilac eyes piercing through her soul with a phazer at point blank range. "I'm gonna need you to _not_ do that, alright?"

"Why's that?" Ruby inquired.

"You'll see..." Yang grabbed Ruby's shoulder and brought her to her feet, her full chest plate exposed in the window. Ruby looked out the window and saw Pyrrha and Jaune take aim, sinister smiles on their faces. "Hey, Pyr! She's all yours." Yang called.

"Oh, I'm going to enjoy this..." Pyrrha chuckled. Just as she was about to pull the trigger, the light on her vest turned off. She looked at Jaune who had also shut down. The two looked back to see Nora, keeping her gun trained the two before her. "Ah, crap, they tricked us!"

"Don't let them get away, Nora!" Yang cackled, "Destroy them all!" During Nora's surprise attack, Yang had dropped a still shocked Ruby, who propped herself up against the far corner of the sniper's perch. "You ok?" Yang asked, concerned.

"I, yeah... I think so." Ruby managed to stutter out, "You... Used me as bait?"

"Yeah, sorry." The blonde rubbed the back of her head, then offered Ruby a hand up, "It's kinda mine and Nora's way of telling Pyrrha to back off of you. She's been on your back for too long and we're both sick of it. She needs new material, and if she still doesn't get the memo here then we'll find another way to pound the point home." Ruby nodded slowly, comprehending what Yang had just told her. "I just don't like how you're the only target for her. It's not fair to you, especially since you don't fight back!"

"Would you like it if I fired a couple shots back at her?" The counter-inquiry was honest, which made the older teen rub the back of her head.

"I... Eh, well... It's kind of a double edged sword, you know? If you don't do anything then she'll keep it up, but if you do something then she'll know that you have a backbone and will want to keep it up..."

"Oh... I see." Ruby nodded with a dejected tone, "She... Pyrrha, she doesn't like me very much, does she?"

"Oh no! She likes you, she just... She doesn't get you is all. You're just this quiet little thing that she just met, and I think she expected a bit more out of you."

"So I didn't meet her expectations?"

Yang backtracked and stuttered, trying to find the right words, "No, I mean yes... Eh, uh, in a way, you're just different than what she's used to. I mean, I've known her since we were kids and she moved to the city. Nora, Ren and myself helped her get to know the town better and then we were friends. I think she kinda expected the same out of you, but you're just more distant than what she hoped. You know what I'm saying?"

Ruby nodded, "So, what should I do?"

"Absolutely nothing." Yang sighed, placing both of her hands upon the younger teen's shoulders, "You be you. Besides, I'll break you out of your shell soon enough." She winked before turning and walking away. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a couple of lovebirds to hara-" Before she could finish, her chest plate turned off. She quickly turned around to see a small smile on the red girls' face, her phazer pointed right at Yang.

"Sorry..." Ruby said quietly.

"You red little... Mhph." Yang walked off in a feigned huff, opting not to finish her sentence. That or she did and Ruby couldn't hear it. The red-themed teen chose to believe the former, though. She stayed in her perch for the rest of the game, knowing full well that everyone knew where she was. When the game ended, she started walking down to the exit, finding no sign of her friends. ' _They must've decided to avoid that spot... Good._ ' She would be bottom of the board, but didn't care. She still had fun that night.

She hung up her vest, walked into the lobby and stretched. More people had shown up, a lot more, making it kind of uncomfortable for her. She found her friends near the edge of the lounge. "Hey Rubes!" Yang waved.

"Hey, all." The younger girl stretched her arms a bit, "I think it got crowded."

"Yeah, more fun for us!" Nora cheered. "One more time!" The others agreed, save for Ruby. It was just past midnight and though Neo and Junior didn't tell her she had to be back, she did want to get home. She could just feel an early morning coming to reign down it's harsh punishment upon those who chose to sleep in. There was quite a bit more people than she had anticipated and she wasn't very sure what to feel, either.

"I dunno, I'm kinda tired." Ruby finally passed after a moment of thought. "I'm out of free games anyway and don't have that much on me."

"You're gonna go home then?" Pyrrha asked curiously. Ruby nodded, "Oh, Let Yang and I walk you across." Yang did a double take, as well as Ruby. "If it's only one of us walking her home then it's only one of us walking back. This way they have to deal with two badass babes if someone decides to mess with us."

"Oh. sure, ok!" The blonde agreed, her lilac eyes blinking in surprise, "Only if you promise never to use the nickname I gave us over the summer."

"What?" The taller redhead inquired with an offended tone, "Did I do something wrong?"

"No," Yang shrugged honestly, "It just sounds weird when you do it." Pyrrha grumbled, though nobody could make out her words. Yang shrugged it off and winked at Ruby, silently telling the younger teen that _that_ shot was for her. "Alright, we'll go with you and play one last game when we get back, sound good?" Jaune and Nora agreed, said their goodbyes to the younger and the trio left. Ruby picked up her red jacket from the coat rack and led the way out of the store.

She walked ahead of the group, keeping up a much faster pace. It was her normal walking speed, but not to the others. "Jeez, Ruby, slow down!" Yang called. The red-clad girl stopped, looked back and went ahead at the same pace as her friends did.

"It's kinda chilly tonight." Pyrrha commented... More complained, "Ruby, how do you walk out here with only a jacket and _not_ feel it?"

"Oh I feel it, I just learned to ignore it." She shrugged, her response causing the older girl to grit her teeth. What kind of answer was that? Then again, Pyrrha _did_ decide that leaving her coat at Lazer Team was a _good_ idea. She had nobody to blame but herself and decided to leave the subject alone, which surprised Yang again.

' _Maybe she gets it?_ ' The blonde thought with hope. This kind of restraint was unseen by Pyrrha before, and Yang was happy about it. ' _Maybe this'll help Ruby's self-esteem._ '

"Did you have fun, Rubes?" Yang asked as they began to walk up the steel walkway. Ruby turned with a smile and nodded.

"Even though I'm completely exhausted, I had an absolute blast tonight."

"Think you're gonna sleep well?"

"For sure."

Satisfied, Yang nodded and brought an end to the quick conversation. After a few minutes of walking the trio made their way off of the walkway and to the apartment complex that Ruby called home. The younger girl said her goodbye and thanked her friends before entering said complex. She walked to and up the stairs to the third story, moved down the hall and found her room. Pulling out her keys she unlocked and opened the door, entered, closed said door and proceeded to crash on her bed. She peered at the alarm clock; Twelve-fourty-nine. She grumbled incoherently to herself, kicked off her shoes and curled up in her bed; prepared for what she hoped would be a long night.

* * *

Pyrrha and Yang proceeded to walk back after watching Ruby enter Terrace View. The two knew where she had lived but the young girl never invited them over. Her defense was that there either wasn't much to see, or her parents didn't want anyone else over. This didn't bother either of them, really.

"Pyr..." Yang called as they walked up the steel walkway, "We need to talk."

"Let me guess: You and Nora want me to stop razzing on her, don't you?"

"Yup, pretty much." Yang looked over, lilac eyes meeting emerald, "Look, Pyrrha, we don't know much about Ruby still. I gotta be honest, I'm not sure if she knows you're joking and she's afraid to say anything. We're obviously her first friends in a while and she's nervous. Nora and I want to help her break out a bit and learn to let loose but then you come in with your little comments and like that she's gone again." The blonde clearly reached the taller girl before her, "Please, Pyrrha. You're my friend as well as Ruby, but we need to help her and you're just sending us two steps back for every one step of progress."

"I get it Yang," Pyrrha cut off anything else her blonde friend was about to say, "That's just how I am with my friends. You know, we've been friends for years. I kinda expected her to be the same way, but obviously..." She took in a deep breath and exhaled, "I'll be honest, though, despite how much crap I give her… She amazes me sometimes."

"Wait, what do you mean?"

"It's just…" Emerald orbs stared up at the sky as the duo stopped at the top of the walkway. Lilac eyes blinked a few times as Pyrrha gathered her thoughts. "She has amazing bursts of athleticism, and yet she's so shy! She holds back so much, during gym and during school! I know she's smarter, better and faster than she is, and to be honest, I think she's a better athlete than me! But damnit if she's so quiet!" Desperately, she blinked towards Yang, trying to see if the blonde was understanding just what she was saying. "The only reason I give her so much crap is because I know she can do better. And i know that you know it, too!"

Yang looked down towards the metal ground, a chill breeze being the only source of sound as few cars traversed on the highway below. "Yeah, I hear ya, Pyr… It's just that I think there's a better way to go than bullying her."

"You really think I'm bullying her?" Slowly, the blonde nodded, confirming Pyrrha's fear. "I… I would never! Not to anyone, not even my worst enemies! Not even to the four stooges!"

"I know, Pyr." Yang confirmed with a firm, but calming hand on her friend's shoulder. "It's a conjoined effort to help Ruby out, and I want all of us to be on the same page. It's like you said, she has so much potential, and with the right kind of support, we can unleash her onto the world, a storm like they've never seen before, no matter where she goes in her future!" Pyrrha smiled lightly as Yang's theatrics were personified through her grip. It wasn't heavy, but it wasn't overly caring, as she usually did.

"I think I understand, now… I think I know what I've been doing wrong…" The red-haired teen lowered her head in shame, closing her eyes as a large truck blew beneath the duo, causing another chill wind to blow upwards. "I think I owe everyone an apology…"

"The only one you need to apologize to is Ruby." The blonde confirmed, "That's it, and it can wait until Monday. For now, though, let's get the hell out of here and back to the store for some warmth!"

"Oh, dear god, yes!" The duo charged down the metal structure as fast as they could, having enough of the unusually chilly night.

* * *

 **Ah, what friends will do for each other...**

 **Alright, so first things first: Yes, I will go into detail of Pyrrha's treatment of Ruby later on. It's not that bad, but it's not exactly what you would expect from her... I kinda made her a tad OOC, but I'l get better at that.**

 **We saw Jaune in this one, we'll see Ren later on.**

 **And yes, we'll go more into Yang and Taiyang later, within the next 3 or 4 chapters.**

 **Weiss will make her grand appearance later, don't worry.**

 **Next chapter we'll finally get to sit down with Ruby and Blake and learn about Beacon an their confusing ass scheduling that I ripped right out of my high school. But that's next time. For now, how was this? Did you enjoy this chapter, or was it a tad long winded? This was a long one and I'm trying to gauge if you all enjoy longer chapters (6k-9k words) or shorter ones (3k-6k), or a little of both? I can totally work with anything.**

 **Shame to say this isn't even the longest chapter, either. But I will say that my limit is 11k words, past that it becomes a 2-parter.**

 **Anyway, let me know what you think of this one and what kind of chapter length you want to deal with.**

 **I'll get to work on the next chapter and hopefully I'll have it up as soon as I can. Also, this chapter marks the end of my little "you can expect [blank] soon", because the plot will be taking over soon and I don't want to spoil _too_ much. **

**Until Next Time.**


	3. New Arrivals

**So, yeah, this one is way later than I wanted. Sorry, but college sucks.**

 **Another issue is that this story and the next one were so poorly done the first time that I had to go through and restructure and redo the whole thing. Chapter 4 is almost done and hopefully it won't take as long to bring it up, but I'm not so sure about 5 and 6. I can only fear just how hastily it was made and how overall bad it looks.**

 **Either way, I'm trying my best to do better on them all. I know I need to be a bit more descriptive, which I'm trying, but I've never once in my life been able to describe anything. It's only been "That thing there" or "That one thingamajig." I'll try, though!**

 **So this is the chapter everyone's been waiting for! Well, not really. This is just the chapter where Plot is introduced to a certain extent. If you want cute, somewhat cringe-y dialogue, well you came to the right place! Knowing me, this entire chapter is going to be one cringe worthy festival of fail!**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Silver eyes slowly fluttered open as their owner woke up, her sight clear in the barely illuminated darkness. There was a light from beyond her door, which she paid no mind to as she carefully turned over in her bed to face her alarm clock upon her nightstand. In digital red light, the machine read ten-twenty. ' _Almost nine full hours, uninterrupted..._ ' the redhead thought with a smile, _'Nice.'_

She flipped back over, determining more sleep could prove useful, throwing her deep red comforter over her body and covering everything up to her neck. She tried, at least, until a certain short, two-tone haired woman she had come to know and love swiftly opened the door walked into the doorframe of her room, light from the nearby kitchen accompanying her, "Ah, you're up!" So close. "Finally!"

"No I'm not, Neo..." The younger girl grumbled into her pillow, curling up into a tight ball as she faced the far wall. "This is all your imagination."

"Oh, is it now?" The women asked, playfully, "I think the _curtains_ might have something to say to that!" Neo skipped over to the far wall, where a fairly large window was covered by thick curtains. They stayed closed so Ruby wouldn't be disturbed in her sleep, as the light from the streets outside have a tendency on finding their way inside.

"You wouldn't dare, Neo!" Ruby cried from her interrupted slumber. "The curtains have no say in any of this"

"You'd censor the voices of inanimate objects?" The shorter woman accusingly called, "There _might_ be a place for you in politics after all!" Neo turned back and saw tired silver eyes staring at her, pleadingly, begging her not to do what she was about to do. Those eyes almost made her feel bad… Almost. "I'm sorry, hun, but you gotta get up." With a smirk and a single move of the hand, she flung the heavy maroon cloth away, letting in as much sunlight as possible in a flash.

Neo looked around the freshly illuminated room, noting the clothes scattered on the floor around the bed. "I can see you missed the basket..." She commented in a chiding tone, "A few times…"

"Ha-ha." Ruby retorted sarcastically, achingly turning away from the window and covering her face with her comforter, "I'll pick it all up when I do laundry."

"Why not just keep it out of the way?" The inquiry was backed by a confused tone as the shorter woman maneuvered around to the other side of the bed in order to face her tenant.

"Why would I do that?" Silver eyes poked out of the covers, staring at the woman before her, while also feeling an odd sense of déjà vu.

"Why not?"

"But... Why?"

Neo stared at the teen for a moment, blankly contemplating whether or not she wanted to push this. Obviously, Ruby was dealing with a classic case of College Student-itis, where one gets justifiably lazy enough to keep their living quarters barely clean, but not exactly spotless. Mostly just livable. The woman shook her head and chuckled while she walked out the room. Ruby inevitably threw the covers out of her face and heavily sighed. "Guess I really don't have a choice, here..." She sat up, being blinded by the unusual amount of sunlight in the room. Normally the curtains would be barely cracked on the less busy days, which was what today was. The little light that would be let in would usually allow her to wake up on her own, if she hadn't done so already. Ruby was a surprisingly light sleeper, as well as an early riser. Neo usually never said a word in the morning when she acted like the teen's alarm clock, unless the it was a busy day; rent collection, maintenance orders or just maintenance work all fell in that category.

Ruby shook her head to try and fully wake herself before dragging herself out of bed. She was still dressed in her attire from the night before, save for the jacket. The way she figured, what's the point of wearing something if it can't last literally the whole day? She shuffled her way out into the main room, only to find a certain woman standing at her kitchen counter, carefully watching the bedroom. "There she is!" Neo clapped in a cheery tone, "So, how was last night? Tell me all about it!" Despite her interest and enthusiasm, it still wasn't enough to wake the young teen up. Instead, Ruby shrugged, clearly giving her friend the silent treatment. "That bad, huh?"

"It wasn't _bad_ ," The red girl piped, "It was a ton of fun. I'm just worn out is all."

"Ah, I see." Neo nodded, turning to a newspaper that she had brought for the tenant whose counter she now occupied, leaning into it to read. "Was that girl that I don't like there? What was her name... Pyrrha?" Ruby nodded as she began to look into her, albeit empty, fridge. "I don't know why you don't tell her off. Call her out, do something!"

Ruby walked onto the kitchen tile barefoot, the cold floor giving her a mild jolt as she moved towards the fridge. "Because doing that implies that there's a problem, Neo." Ruby easily replied, "And you shouldn't say that you don't like her because you never met her." Neo rolled her eyes with a 'tsk' as Ruby continued her mini-speech, "Besides, it's not my issue anymore. Yang and Nora said they'd handle Pyrrha. I don't want to do anything that might make anyone mad..." She pulled out the gallon of milk Neo had bought for her the day before, still unopened.

Neo pulled out a dry, clean glass from the sink, "You're just too nice of a person, aren't ya? Speaking of which!" She turned to the young girl to her left, "Blake, next door, has everything set up. She's now a full tenant."

"That's good."

"I want you to go over and visit her." Ruby took a sip of milk and gave a curious glance to Neo, raising her right eyebrow with mild concern, "Let me explain. She told us that before she came here to finish up the paperwork, she went to Beacon to pick up her schedule. I want you to go over there, make nice, be her first friend in the school and help her with her schedule and how the school works."

"Okay..." Ruby said, "And what would happen if I decide _not_ to participate and stick to your side and work today?"

Neo gave her _the look_ , moving dangerously close to the younger girls' face, though having to stand on her toes in order to truly get that face-to-face action she wanted, "You seem to forget that I can single handedly make your life a living hell here, right?" She whispered, her eyes barely even allowed to be referred to as slits anymore as her eyelids slowly closed. Ruby's silver eyes went wide with fear, "Ah, there it is! So, now what do you say?" It wasn't every day when the shorter woman had to threaten the teen, but Ruby knew for a fact that her boss was _not_ to be taken lightly.

Ruby slowly ran her fingers through her bedhead, thinking of any way she could delay this. She wasn't exactly a people person, unfortunately. "Uh, well… Can… Can I at least take a shower first?"

"Well I'd be offended if you didn't..."

The teen blushed, of course she should do that. What a dumb question, a poor attempt to stall for time. "Right..." Silence overtook the duo, Ruby waited to be briefed on her job for today, other than meet with Blake. That couldn't have been it, there had to be more to do today.

Maybe something was up? Neo had been giving her less and less work these past few weeks, and Junior hasn't exactly been the most thrilled person in the world with her… Ruby had been thinking about this for a while now, at least, thinking of something to ask, but couldn't find the right way to ask it. "Um, Neo?"

"Yes?" The women flipped through a page of newspaper (one meant for Ruby, mind you).

"Can I ask you something?" Neo raised an eyebrow as the duo locked eyes, the former now curious as to what was coming. She nodded, silently telling the tenant to go on. "I want you to be as honest as possible... Please?"

The shorter woman noted the worried tone of the tenant, her heart skipping a beat as a hint of anxiety took over. "Of course... Why, what's up?"

"Am I doing a good enough job? Are you and Junior mad at me?"

The women stopped dead in her tracks, all trains of thought instantly derailed. She looked at Ruby, who held a very serious, yet almost pleading look in her eyes. "W-why... Why do you ask? You're the best employee I have here!" Ruby slid down, sitting on the cold tile floor of her kitchen area as Neo tried to gather her bearings after being completely blindsided like that, "Why the sudden interest in something you know the answer to? Did someone say something last night?" Ruby shook her head, though the shorter woman above her continued anyway, "Was it that Pyrrha girl?"

"No, no! Neo, it's nothing like that!" The silver eyed teen assured. "It's just, I dunno… Junior seems to get more and more upset with me everyday and won't tell me why, and you stopped giving me work to do which makes me feel like I'm not pulling my own weight around here-" Neo slowly knelt down as the teen before her continued, "-And I know how you two are with employees you're not happy with, you give them less work and less time on shift, which makes me think that-"

"-That we're upset with you?" The woman interrupted, her expression now soft and caring, rather than worried. "Is that what's been bothering you lately?" Ruby nodded, confirming the woman's suspicions. She didn't know what to say or do at this point, she and Junior decided against kids, so this was a whole new experience for her. However, she could say, for a fact, that she completely understood where Ruby was coming from, worrying about what family thinks. Or, in Ruby's case, family figures.

The woman took the glass from the teen's hand, setting it on the counter above and wrapped her arms around the aforementioned girl, pulling her into a tight embrace, opting not to say a word. What could she say? What can she say to ensure the teen that her fears are for not? That yes, she is respected and loved by both Neo and Junior, even though behind the scenes that's not the case. How is she supposed to tell Ruby not to worry when she has every right to worry?

It was obvious that Ruby was seeing things much clearer than Neo had hoped. She had noticed the ripples in the water, so to speak, and knows that something is wrong. Yet all Neo can do is lie and tell her that everything is okay, even though she knows it's not. _'She can't get involved anyway…'_ The woman with two different hair colors thought, _'This is between him and I… Nobody else.'_

With a pat on Ruby's shoulder, the short woman split from the embrace and rose to her feet as silver eyes peered up at her. "No more of this self-depreciating talk, you hear?" Neo warned with a wag of her index finger, "I won't stand for it. Now, you have your job for today and if you're done early you can come down and see me. I'm sure I can find something for you to do." Ruby nodded slowly, not in a cautious manner, but in almost a sad manner, maybe even a depressed tone. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some paperwork ahead of me." She quickly packed her files, even the newspaper, tucked them all under her right arm and hurried out of the apartment, avoiding what she could only fear was an awkward moment and leaving the teen alone.

The one time Ruby didn't want to be alone…

Still, the silver-eyed teen shrugged everything off, telling herself that her foolish talk earlier was just that: Foolish. Of course Neo and Junior weren't mad at her! What a stupid thought to have. Things have just been kind of crazy lately with everyone's schedules being screwed up and some of the maintenance workers quitting out of nowhere, it has just left everyone on edge. Nobody's mad at anybody!

Her head now in the game, Ruby quickly downed what was left of her milk, washed the glass out in the sink and peered towards the bathroom door. She had no homework but knew that paperwork for this place sucked, so helping Neo was her prime directive. However, one certain new neighbor stood in her way. It was time to swallow her pride, put away her anxiety for a few minutes, do the job she was given and return to her boss, her friend, to help.

* * *

Sighing heavily, Neo chastised herself for rushing out of the apartment too quickly. Then again, could anyone blame her after being blindsided like that? Did Ruby really feel unloved amongst management? Sure, Junior had been a pain lately, but the other employees loved working with the girl, they were honest and she was thorough with her work, so why would she ever think that she wasn't loved?

Sure, the past few days have been busy and both the husband and wife landlords didn't have a lot of time for anyone, even each other, but is that really enough to warrant such worry? Or was it something else?

 _'It's gotta be that Pyrrha girl...'_ Neo told herself as she entered the elevator farther down the hall. _'Ruby wasn't talking like this before last night, that has to be it!'_ Though, as she pressed the ground floor button, all she could think was that her excuse was weak. It used to be that every day, after ensuring that her schoolwork was done, Neo would take Ruby and the two would work throughout the complex , finding what repairs needed to be made, noting what was needed for orders and even some rent collection, even though that was Juniors job.

He would go after the more repeat offenders of rent-dodging, while the girls would go and collect from those who were often on time. Mainly, well, a more threatening presence, in Junior's words, would get people to pay up in a hurry.

But recently, for Ruby with the start of the new year, her workload from school has increased and therefore, she hasn't been readily available for her job. Neo gave her the benefit of the doubt and would check in throughout the day to make sure that everything was fine. Even on the first month of classes, Beacon swamped the students.

The elevator rang out and sparked the shorter woman's attention, allowing her to catch the doors opening and walk out the moment she could. All the while not once taking her mind off of her issue. Ruby had a point, even if she didn't mean to: Neo and Junior had been very distant lately. Even if she knew it, now she couldn't ignore, because the closest thing to a daughter that she has in life can see just what she herself tried to ignore.

Today had to be day that the couple sat down to talk. For Ruby and for them.

Neo turned into the empty lobby, a spacious lounge area that reminded one of a hotel, mainly because the complex was built to be one. Only late in its construction did the owners, Junior's grandfather, make the decision to turn it to an Apartment. The lobby area had a reception desk in the far back with three computers, mostly for various banking and supply ordering, but it could also be used for security purposes with the cameras throughout. Upon the desk had many papers, most of which were old notes. There really wasn't much use for the reception area unless it was rent day, or somebody was looking for apartment space.

After you walked behind the desk there was a little room directly behind the space separated by a divider wall, this room was an employee lounge/prep area where the few workers joined in the morning to discuss what had to be done for the day. Across the small hall was another door, this one was Neo and Juniors apartment. The short statured woman walked across the freshly cleaned tile floor past what she called the "Lobby Lounge", which was just a small carpeted space at the other end of the lobby with four leather couches around a large TV, and maneuvered into the Prep Room. She sat herself down at the circular table in the middle of the room and popped open the file folder in her hands, unable to think about anything at all.

The work she had to do was already set and being completed by her trustworthy Maintenance Team- Two broken down vending machines which needed repairs and four reports of busted air conditioners. In other words, an easy day. Two Vending machines can be fixed by one person with no issue, the A/C units, though, could take some time.

She sat back in her chair and deeply sighed, unable to concentrate, Ruby's words still having an adverse effect on her, and she knew why. She just hoped that her husband would listen. Junior could be very... Stubborn sometimes. Strict, as well. Sometimes he wasn't the best listener, or talker for that matter. Knowing him, he'd probably avoid this discussion.

A large set of footsteps stomped through the lobbies tile floor, alerting Neo to the presence of the one man in the whole building who could make that kind of noise. The buzzing of the lights above her didn't do much to hinder his arrival, as a large man entered through the threshold of the door and onto the pure white tile of the prep room, the blue painted walls doing their work and bringing down his already poor mood. He turned to his wife, flicked his lighter on and lit up the unlit cigarette in his mount before making his first words of the late morning. "Got your text." Short and sweet.

"Hey," She greeted, noting how aggravated her husband seemed. Probably disgruntled over some rent-dodgers. They duo's had a few of them recently. "I, uh, wanted to talk to you…" The main raised an eyebrow with curiosity before allowing his wife to finish her sentence, noticing how badly she had stuttered. "About, uh… Us."

He visibly stiffened before shutting the door, turning the knob slightly so that it wouldn't make a noise by the time it fully closed. When the door was closed, it usually meant that there was a private meeting going on. In this case, there was nothing more private than what the couple was going to discuss. Sighing heavily, he sat down at the table and prepared himself for a long, long talk.

* * *

Ruby finally got dressed, her shower taking unusually long. The hot water soothed her aching muscles, topped with the fact that she was already really tired, made the last seven minutes _very_ enjoyable.

She ran a towel through her damp hair one last time before walking out into her kitchen, deeply sighing as she stretched her leg muscles. She pondered for a moment about if she had another job to do, and one thing came to her mind. _'I guess I should go see Blake now.'_ She thought to herself, _'Oh please don't let me mess it up.'_ First impressions are everything, of course. She looked herself over in the mirror, making sure she was approachable at the very least. That was just one of the many things she had learned in recent years.

She exited her room and walked into the carpeted hall, before making a very short walk to her target. _'What if she's still asleep?'_ Ruby wondered. _'What if she's busy and doesn't want to talk about it right now? Maybe she has it all worked out?'_ She held her fist back from the door in hesitation _. 'Why are you so afraid?!'_ A familiar voice hollered at her from within her mind. It sounded like Neo… But she was nowhere to be found. _'What's with the fear? Why hesitate? Go get her! Make a friend!'_

' _I… I don't know how…'_ Ruby admitted to herself, hesitantly. ' _I don't know what I'm doing…'_

' _Oh what's with_ that _you coward!'_ Oh yeah, this was Neo's voice alright. Must be Ruby's inner-person trying to reason with her mind, trying to bring up her confidence. Wouldn't be the first time and won't be the last. ' _You've made tons of friends before! What about Yang?'_

' _Velvet helped me with that…'_

' _Well what about Nora, or even Pyrrha?!'_

' _I met them through Yang, and she_ made _them give me a chance, remember, brain?'_

' _W-well what what about Velvet? You're friends with her, right?'_

Ruby balled her hands into fists in frustration as she internally yelled at herself. _'That's something totally different! We were friends as kids!'_

' _W-well you still shouldn't give up, young lady. You have a job to do, and you owe it to_ yourself _to make a friend on your own for once. Now-'_ Ruby's left fist slowly raised up to the door as her silver orbs opened in concern. Was she actually going to do this? What was her mind telling her body?! She didn't _want_ to do this. _'Knock on the door, and-'_

' _No! Stop, hand!'_ She ordered harshly. _'We aren't ready!'_ Quickly, her hand fell to her side as she regained control, nearly breaking into a sweat during the ordeal. _'Lets just go back home and we'll come back tonight."_

As she turned to go back to her room, she heard the door creak open. Stopping in her tracks she turned around to see a tall figure, amber eyes staring right at her. "Ah, there you are." The woman in the door greeted, calmly, with a small smile. "I thought I heard you. I've been expecting you."

"Oh!" Ruby said nervously, "I uh, hope you weren't waiting too long?"

"Not at all. Come on in." Blake moved away from the the threshold of the door, welcoming her neighbor into the apartment, "Let's see if I can remember your name, uh… Ruby, right?" The red-clad girl nodded while humming an affirmative sound, "Great. Feel free to make yourself at home." Ruby entered the main room, boxes still scattered about, "Sorry about the mess. I haven't had time to unpack."

Blake's apartment was much like Ruby's, in both interior design and paint job. Nearly every apartment in the building was the same, in that regard, the only difference was what kind of interior they had, be it wooden walls or pure drywall. In Ruby's case it was drywall with a more grey paint job. She couldn't even say it was white anymore. Though Blake's apartment was more white, purely because of a fresh paint job that the maintenance crew does over every vacant apartment.

The rooms were the only thing that differed between the apartments. Whereas Ruby's bedroom was on the back left of the space, Blake's was on the back right with her bathroom being the first door on the direct right after you've gone through a little hallway inside. Also, Blake had a patio, it would appear, something that the shorter teen was instantly jealous of. On the left of the main room, where a lone couch and a coffee table sat, along with two pillows on the ground, was Blake's kitchen and an open window between the two rooms, offering a much larger countertop than Ruby had, this counter had three stools to accompany it.

After examining the space, Ruby concluded that a small pile of boxes near the entrance to the back patio was nothing compared to what she could do. "Oh it's ok." The younger girl waved her off, "You should see mine. This place is like a hospital compared to my room." Blake covered her chuckled at her neighbor's comment. "So, you're going to Beacon?"

Blake answered Ruby's question with a question of her own. "And _you're_ a student?" She asked curiously, "Neo told me you were a third year, but you seem so young for that grade?"

"Actually I started about last year." Ruby replied, "I took a test and got accepted with a scholarship." Blake looked over her with wide amber eyes, speechless at the information she was just told, "They also bumped me up a year, why I don't know. I guess I did better than I thought. I was thrown into the second year last year, where I met my friends that I have now. You'll meet them on Monday, they're great!" Blake nodded, interested in what the younger girl had to say. "Oops, I think I started rambling..."

"No, no. You're fine." Blake gladly waved her off with a smile. In her mind, all she could think is how this must be how the red clad girl acted and didn't want to do or say anything to offend her. This was Blake's chance for a new friend _before_ going to school and there was no way she would mess this up.

"Um, anyway, I was hoping to help you through your schedule? I-if you need it, I mean… I remember my first day there and I had no idea what was going on, I kinda wanted to help you like I was helped."

The black haired teen silently nodded and pulled out a binder from a bag, within it held a number of papers. The most attention-grabbing one was the schedule sheet. She also pulled out a map to the school. "Here." She handed the papers over to her neighbor, who sat on a stool at the kitchen counter.

Ruby read through the new girls' list of classes, and noticed how familiar it looked.

 **Class Schedule**

 **Student: Blake Belladonna**

 **Day: Red**

 **Block One: P.E. Goodwitch**

 **Block Two: Free. Peach**

 **Block Three: Creative Writing. -**

 **Block Four: Math. Port**

 **Block Five: History. Oobleck**

 **Day: Black**

 **Block Six: Science. Peach**

 **Block Seven: Free. Peach**

 **Block Eight: Health. Goodwitch**

 **Block Nine: English. -**

 **Block Ten: Art. Torchwick**

"Huh..." She said, furrowing her brow with interest, "You have almost all of your classes with us… U-us being the group as a whole."

"Most?"

"Oh, um," Ruby thought of a way to explain a very easy answer, "You won't have the same classes with me the whole way. See, we'll have Gym first period and free block right after together.." She began, pointing at the two classes on the sheet, "I won't have your second class with you, which is the elective block. Everyone will be taking their elective class then." She took a look over the sheet once more You took creative writing as an elective?" The black haired girl nodded happily, "Nice."

"Why won't I have that with you?" Blake wondered aloud, leaning her head into her hand as she place her elbow on the counter.

"I have an engineering class second period. Anyway," Ruby went back on track quickly before Blake could inquire further, "You'll have Math with us, which means we'll have lunch on Red days, too." Blake looked to her quizzically, her right eyebrow raised slightly. "Oh, right. You see, out of these ten classes, we only take five on one day, and the other five the next. Then we repeat after cycling through the last five."

Blake made a small 'Oh' sound in understanding. Ruby continued, "You'll finish the day with the gang and I in Oobleck's history class. And that's your red day. Black day, which is your second set of classes, we'll be in Science with Peach, who's really nice. Then we'll have free block again, then for the seventh class, we'll be in another elective, which you'll have Yang and Nora. Then we have English with Yang and Pyrrha as well as me. Finally you, me and Nora will finish the day in Mr. Torchwick's art class."

Black nodded, understanding a little bit. "So, where are all of these classes?" She asked, "And when will I meet any of your friends? They sound nice."

"Oh they are! You'd get along great with them. But Pyrrha has an odd sense of humor, so watch out for that. But other than that they're all great! You'll meet them all on Monday. Also we'll be sure to show you around school before classes begin, just so you can get a basic understanding." Again, Blake nodded.

"So how did you meet your friends?"

This question came as a surprise to Ruby. She often recollected on the time when she met her now friends. "I, uh, I have a friend there, Velvet, who's in her last year, who introduced me to Yang, and _she_ introduced me to the others."

"I see." The two continued their discussion, Ruby telling her about the school, other kids and what not. Ruby also gave a specific warning about a certain group of students: The rich kids. This group consisted of four spoiled brats (in Yang's terms) of wealthy families who thought they ran the school. Spoiler, nobody likes them. Blake made a mental note to heed the teens' warning and stay clear of these kids, as they sounded pretty vicious.

The younger neighbor went on about the school; what you'll find, what the schedule is like and how much homework there usually is. She continued, not realizing that she was doing a bit of rambling. Blake didn't mind, though. She found the silver-eyed girl to be interesting. She wanted to get to know her new neighbor. So, she didn't talk; rather she sat back and listened. She even offered Ruby food and drinks, to which Ruby politely declined.

"I... I'm not sure what else to go over?" The teen shrugged, "Like I said, I'm sure Yang and the others will help you where I can't, and you seem like you'd be able to find your way around easily. I'm sure you'll have no trouble!"

"I'll try not to, but I'll come to you the moment I'm lost." Blake smiled. Ruby reciprocated the motion and set the papers back down on the counter. "I, uh, don't like to be _that_ host, but I'm meeting a friend in town in an hour and-"

"Oh, say no more!" The redhead declared, "I know when I've overstayed my welcome." Ruby quickly stood from her seat. "I'll get out of your hair, now."

"Well I wouldn't say _that_ ," The black haired teen spoke honestly, "I would have kicked you out long ago if you had done that."

"You mean it?"

Blake stood up, seemingly towering over the fifteen year old, "Yes." She assured. "You did me a huge favor by doing this. I was completely lost with this schedule. At least let me walk you back to your place? As a thanks?" Ruby looked quizzically at her host, who continued, "I know it's right next door, but still... Courtesy"

Silver eyes blinked as their owner happily nodded, "Uh, yeah! It's the thought that counts, right?" Blake smiled lightly as she led her guest out the door. As the two walked out, Ruby felt a calming hand on her shoulder. One she was sure that she had felt before. She looked up and met Blake's sincere amber eyes. "You know, Blake..." She started, focusing her vision, "You look... Familiar... Have we met before?"

Blake stiffened as she tried to hold a steady look, "You know, I was getting the same vibe from you." Her voice was steady, but she could still hear herself wavering a bit, "But I don't believe we have." Mentally, the black themed teen patted herself on the back for finishing strong.

Ruby kept thinking as the two began to walk down the hall. Terrace View's hallway's all had the same designed carpet on each floor; maroon along the sides with an intricate box design ever few feet in the middle. The wallpaper was lighter color. Tan if one had to guess.

The duo made it to their destination, a short ten-foot walk was nothing to their speed. "Well, here we are." Ruby declared with a surprisingly nervous tone, "Home sweet home." She turned back to her new neighbor and spoke, "Like I said; if you have any other questions or need anything else before Monday, let me know!"

"Sure thing." Blake delightfully smiled. As Ruby began to open the door, her neighbor noticed a... Lack of noise coming from within the apartment. There wasn't anyone else inside, no music, no sounds from a TV. Actually, now that she was thinking about it, there hasn't been anyone inside, save for Ruby and Neo, just this morning. "Say... I don't hear anything in there… Are you home alone? Or are your parents out?"

Muscles visibly stiffening, Ruby's expression turned serious, though she was luckily facing away from the inquirer beside her. She had been in these situations a few times before. Most of the people on her floor knew of her... Arrangement with Junior and Neo, some were even willing to pay her rent every now and again. Still, she was prepared for this emergency scenario.

"Uh, yeah! I live with my parents!" She barely got out without a stutter.

Blake warmingly smiled, hoping to find a way to figure out her neighbor a little bit more. "Well, where are they at? I'd like to meet them." Needless to say the bow-wearing girl's interest had been peaked.

"They, uh, had overtime work." The younger girl shrugged. "Yeah, gotta make money to pay rent, you know?" Blake nodded easily, accepting the answer with no other thought. "Alright, well I'll see you Blake!" They said their goodbyes and Ruby closed the door, chastising herself for doing it too quickly. She leaned against it, the full weight of her body pressing against the wood as she started sliding down to the ground. Her head hung low as she brought up her legs to her chest. Taking in a deep breath, she gave herself a mental pat on the back; Blake seemed to have bought it. "Why does everyone want to meet my parents?!" She huffed to herself with an annoyed tone.

* * *

Amber eyes blinked as their owner watched her neighbor enter the apartment and walked back. She could tell Ruby was lying clear as day, but couldn't figure out why.

Why lie? What's so bad about admitting her this...? Was it even an issue? Why was she keeping her life... No, _herself_ a secret? There wasn't something _wrong_ with all of this, Neo didn't seem like a malicious person... She wouldn't have anything to gain from that kind of abuse...

Maybe she was thinking too far into this. Maybe Ruby just didn't want anyone to know about her. After all, she's always been a secretive person, carrying that over into adolescence and adulthood was inevitable. The black haired girl took one more look down the hall before entering her own apartment. As she did, she kept going back to what Ruby had asked her just a few moments prior, her honest and innocent words buzzing around in her head, causing her to worry...

 _'Have we met before?'_

"She... Doesn't remember?"

* * *

 **So, yeah. Neo seems to be in a bit of denial, Ruby still can't make friends, Junior seems like a stuck up douche and Blake is hiding something.**

 **Boy, not really a difference between here and the show, huh? (Don't answer that.)**

 **Anyway, thought I'd give a little insight to how the schooling works, as well as a bit more into Neo and Junior's relationship with Ruby. It's more of a legal guardian situation, only less legal system. Also, if you still don't know how the school works, here's the rub, based on my High School Schedule:**

 **Red Day: Class 1-5 (class 2 happens both days)**

 **Black Day: Class 6-10 (Class 7 is also Class 2).**

 **Got it? Good. I based the days off of what I figured Beacon's colors are, only through the uniforms of the students. I could be wrong, but either way that's what it's going to be from here on.**

 **So how was it? Like I said I had to restructure it a little and I feel like I might have missed a few parts or at least didn't do a lot of it justice, but that's not for me to decide. I have a very respectful, though oddly not really vocal clientele who will tell me how it was! (pst, that's your cue!) So go ahead and hit me with your thoughts. I'm working on the next one now and will hopefully have time throughout my busy schedule to get it up faster than this one was.**

 **As always, if you have any questions for me, feel free to shoot me a PM. I'll try to get back with you as soon as I possibly can.**

 **Thanks for reading, and as always:**

 **Until Next Time.**


	4. First Day of Class pt1

**I promised that I would be faster with this upload than last time, and I wasn't wrong! Not exactly right, either, but still.**

 **Not really much to say here. Not a lot of people seemed interested in the last chapter, which worried me a bit. But I'm still not gonna stop. This will continue for as long as I can. I just hope that at least one person can enjoy the work.**

 **Speaking of which, here's chapter 4. Enjoy.**

* * *

Ruby very quickly found herself with nothing to do as she lounged around on her smooth-leather couch. The job Neo had instructed of her was finished (which Ruby was proud of herself for how she handled it, despite how it ended), she had no work from school and wasn't sure if Neo or Junior needed any help with. After all, technically she still had a job to do somewhere in the complex. She sighed as she twirled the pencil in her hands, staring at the ceiling blankly. "What can I do?" She asked herself.

It was currently one in the afternoon, already her day was shot. She was sure Blake was gone by now, and had no money and no car (not like she could drive anyway, being fifteen and all...). She was stumped, to say the least. Picking up her flip phone, she began to go through her old text messages, one which had an attachment. Yang took a picture the night before of the gang in their gear after a match. It was a nice photo and gave Ruby an idea to pass the time.

Picking up a pad of paper and pencil and began to sketch the picture on her tiny screen. As she did she tried to remember the fun she had on the previous night. Ruby had made a promise to sketch everyone in her friends group. She never thought that she was insanely good, but her friends still wanted them. Apparently the likeness from picture to sketch was, in Yang's words, "Near perfection", which was enough for Ruby. Her sketch book held multiple of her works: Nora in her chef's uniform, which she drew whilst the Nordic girl was working, only able to do so on shift thanks to Nora's parents. Pyrrha in her gymnast outfit _and_ in her volleyball uniform. Finally, there was Yang in her usual attire, her street-wear, so to speak. The blonde worked as a volunteer at the local hospital with her father, but Ruby never had the privilege to see her friend in her scrubs, but wanted nothing more than to do just that. The one problem was that she didn't want to take the blonde away from her work, as Yang was working towards a career in the medical field and Ruby didn't want to be a distraction to that for even a day.

She began the outline, trying her best to copy the picture before her. To say that the red-themed girl had trouble right now would be an understatement, as her phone's screen offered little leeway in terms of size. It was an older flip phone that Junior and Neo bought for her two years ago when she began going to school, to be used in case of emergency but slowly transformed into a recreational use. She didn't dare risk asking for a new one, and frankly didn't care. She liked her phone as is. The only problem was that the messages she sent had the dreaded text limit and her plan left little in terms of what she could or could not do. Sending multiple messages or making too many calls would hurt her in the end. But that was the price she paid, one of the many costs that went into her deal with Junior and Neo.

As Ruby sketched, the thought of phone numbers made her realize something: She never got her neighbor's number. She dropped her pencil and stood up from the couch, pondering if her new friend was still home. Running into her room, the red-clad girl picked up her phone and ran out of her apartment. To the right outside of her door, she saw her target just beginning to walk out. "Blake!" She called, gaining her neighbors attention. The black haired girl turned and smiled, clearly glad to see Ruby again.

"What's up?"

"I think I forgot to get your phone number?" Ruby asked, more than stated. Blake nodded in understanding and the two quickly exchanged numbers. As Ruby finished entering the last digit, a ringtone began to loudly emanate. Instantly the younger teen knew it wasn't her phone; the ringtone was off, far too loud for her phone. Plus, Ruby's phone was almost always on vibrate.

Looking up, she saw an almost petrified look on Blake. The new tenant's eyes were wide as the 'Neon Cat' song played. "Are, uh... Are you gonna get that?" Ruby asked.

"R-right..." Blake answered at the last second. Ruby turned away, pretending not to listen in on the conversation. "I'll be there soon." Blake whispered before clicking her phone off. She turned around quickly, a slight blush on her face. "So, uh-"

Ruby interrupted, "Nice ringtone." Blake's blush deepened, her face almost as red as Ruby's jacket. "Why be ashamed? I gave you a compliment?"

"It's... Nothing." Blake admitted, "I just had an unhealthy obsession with that and won't delete it now is all." Ruby nodded, letting her neighbor know not to go further. "That's a... Different phone you have?"

Ruby flipped her device closed and rubbed the back of her head, "Yeah, I figured I don't need those new fancy ones when this one works just fine! What kind of phone do you have?"

"The 'previous gen' Scroll."

"Last year's model?" Blake nodded with a smirk, "No. That's not last gen. My phone is last generation, yours is pretty current." Blake nodded in agreement with a chuckle, but soon the two returned to awkward silence, neither moving or making a sound. Until the silver eyed teen piped up, at least. "I think you should get going..." The redhead whispered. Blake's eyes, once again, went wide with the realization that she was still late as she began to speed walk out.

The two waved goodbye as Blake disappeared in the stairwell, causing Ruby to sigh, knowing this meant she was alone again. _'All weekend and nothing to-'_

"Ruby!" A gruff voice called. _'Well, so much for that...'_ Junior came up to the young girl, looking none to pleasant. "I need you downstairs, now." His rather calm demeanor despite his appearance made Ruby wonder what was going on. What would Junior need that Neo couldn't get? Was it her handwriting that he couldn't read? Did she make a mistake on some critical paperwork? Wouldn't be the first time and won't be the last. She nodded and followed the man back downstairs and into his and Neo's shared apartment. The lack of a certain female made Ruby more and more curious as to what this was about. If she was in trouble for any reason then the woman would be beside her...

What is this about?

"Alright, sit." He demanded, pointing to a lone wooden chair. Ruby took a seat at the table, the entire kitchen barely lit. "I'm not going to sugarcoat this, ok? You need to start paying rent." Ruby looked to him, confused and mildly worried. "You're not working hard enough here, so I need you to start paying rent. You will or in three months I'll-"

"Where is this coming from?" Ruby interrupted him sincerely. "And why should I? I thought my work for you and Neo paid off my rent?"

"You aren't working enough!" The man shouted, slamming his fist into the table, "The point is you need to pay up, do more work for us or get the hell out! I'm sick of enabling your lazy-"

"Junior!" A voice called, gaining his attention. Neo, practically stomping in, cut his tirade off. "Damnit, we talked about this!" She stepped in between Ruby and Junior, making sure he didn't do anything... Drastic. "Ruby, you need to leave. Clearly my _husband_ and I need to have a little talk." Ruby noticed how harshly she pronounced the title of Junior, being startled by the tense standoff.

"Neo, what's go-?"

"-Leave!" The women commanded harshly. Ruby quickly got the message and ran off, closing the door to the couple's' apartment behind her. The moment the door clicked shut, she heard two voices, each one enraged and getting ever so loud. Ruby didn't know what to do as she could feel a sense of panic as well as déjà vu. She wanted to help but didn't know what to do, afraid that her being part of the problem as is would only make things worse to hang around.

So, instead of running back in to try (and fail) to calm her friends down, she decided it would be best to retreat to her apartment, live to fight another day, and call Velvet to see just what she could do, if anything. Ruby dejectedly sighed, afraid that she was just as useless now as... _That_ day...

* * *

Sunday was uneventful, despite the attitude between Neo and Junior. Both seemed distant and uninterested, telling Ruby that they had nothing for her to do. Neo looked particularly bad, but wouldn't talk to the young girl about anything.

The day went by as Ruby prepared herself for school, which was in the next morning. She decided to do laundry, partially to get Neo off her back. All of her school uniforms were cleaned and ready for the week, her street clothes were clean, just remained unfolded. Packing her stuff, she found herself in her room. Normally she would leave everything in one spot, her shoes next to her bag, her bag next to her nightstand and her phone would be left charging on said nightstand. That way when she was done with her morning rituals, she would get her stuff and go, opting for breakfast at the school.

She normally would find faster ways to Beacon when the weather got colder, generally she would be one of the first ones there. After breakfast she would get a quick power nap before any of her friends showed up, but they left her be if she was asleep. There were areas around school for socializing, these areas had couches, or at least padded benches, that saw a lot of sleeper traffic in the morning. It wasn't unusual to see someone there, unconscious before or sometimes during classes.

Monday came as Ruby's alarm rang out. Neo would wake her on the weekends, the older woman finding solace in sleeping in. Dragging herself out of bed, Ruby instantly walked into the bathroom, stripped down and had a quick shower. It was almost ten minutes to six, and the sun was beginning to rise. The weather outside was getting colder, indicating fall was on the way.. The only issue was that Ruby had to wait on her new neighbor and classmate before leaving, not knowing what time she woke up.

Classes at Beacon ran from eight to three-thirty, though most students were permitted to leave whenever their instructor gave the ok. Driving to the school from Terrace View was barely ten minutes, provided you hit _every red light in existence_ , which happened whenever Neo or Junior drove Ruby on cold winter days.

Ruby finished her shower and quickly dried off. She kept the bathroom door open, despite Neo's protests. Ruby's excuse was "If anyone tries to break in I'll know."Though in reality, it was freedom. She never really had that kind of freedom before, and she reveled in it. Living alone _did_ have its perks.

She picked up her clean class uniform, which she had hung over the door, and began to get dressed. Another perk was her shorter hair. She didn't have to mess with it as much, which means that most of her morning routines were done fast. The only thing she was missing, aside for her school supplies, was her jacket, which she had also cleaned the day before.

Ruby walked into her room and looked at her alarm clock; six-twenty-seven. She grumbled, "Too early." to herself, as she was still clearly tired. Most of the time spent in the shower this morning was her falling asleep. "Whatever. I need to go get Blake soon. We need to get a good start if we want to make it in time for breakfast." She flipped her phone open after removing it from the charger, and scrolled to her new neighbors contact number. She knew Blake would probably be upset for being woken up this early, but she didn't really care.

She hit 'call' and put the device to her ear. It took two rings before someone answered. "Hello?" A familiar voice called, not nearly as tired as Ruby was expecting.

"Blake?" Ruby asked, "Y-you're up?" Blake gave an affirming grunt, "Alright then. Uh, when do you want to start going to school?"

Blake took a moment before saying anything, "Ruby, it's barely six-thirty..."

"Yeah, it's going to take us a bit to walk there-"

"Ruby, I have a car..." Blake interrupted. Ruby instantly started blushing, and was glad she was talking to Blake over the phone. "Didn't I tell you that, yesterday?"

"U-uh... Oh, uh... N-no, you forgot to mention that..." Ruby finally stuttered out. "If you're driving then we don't have to leave until, like, six-fifty... I only like getting there before seven, you know? Avoid the rush and all."

Blake chuckled a bit, "I'll come by and get you in a few minutes, alright?" Ruby made an approving sound before the two hung up. Ruby rubbed her face with her hands and sighed. _'Of course she has a car.'_ she thought annoyed. Now she had to figure out what to do for the next few minutes. Everything was packed and ready to go.

Luckily, she didn't wait too long. A knock on the door raised her attention. She quickly ran up and opened the door, revealing her black haired neighbor. "Hey, one sec!" Ruby ran back into her room, grabbed everything and ran out. "Alright, let's go!" Closing her door the two headed out.

Silver eyes blinked as they stayed locked to the phone screen, the time reading just past six-forty. "I didn't think you wanted to leave until later?"

"I figured we could stop someplace for breakfast." Blake stated as the two walked out to Blake's car. She drove a an older car, definitely ten years old, a little beat up Dodge Stratus and, of course, it was black. "Hop in." The new girl declared, unlocking her car. Ruby threw her bag in the back seat and jumped in the front, newly refurbished leather seats.

Once Blake was certain her passenger was buckled in (to avoid tickets, of course) she pulled away from the apartment and hit the road. "I think I can remember the way to the school." She said, driving through the pre-rush hour traffic, "I think I saw some restaurants on the way in, too."

Ruby confirmed, "Yeah, there's a few places outside of the school zone. They really rake in the money on early release days." Blake nodded as she drove through town. The sun hadn't come up all the way yet, but it was just beginning to creep above the horizon. As she watched the town go by, she made a realization. "Oh!" She called, "I told you what kind of day today was, right?" Blake turned to her with a quizzical expression, "Right. Um, today is a black day, so you have your second group of classes."

Blake made a small 'Oh' sound as she understood what her passenger was talking about. She sat back as she hit a red light, sighing aloud. Her target was right in front of her: Tim Horton's. Popularly known as a more morning place, it was even more popular among people who needed a fast coffee and meal. They sold everything from breakfast sandwiches to donuts, soda to iced tea. Perfect for the morning person who left without eating.

Blake pulled into the 'drive-thru', despite it's incredibly long line. Ruby looked puzzled, but Blake defended her action, "I'd rather wait out here than go inside." The younger teen nodded, but her mind wasn't really put to ease. On an upside, the school was right down the road about a quarter of a mile with a right turn into the back parking lot, which is where the two agreed to go to every day. The line of cars moved up by one.

"Well at least the line is moving." Ruby quipped. Blake chuckled lightly as the next car went, she slowly let off the break to move up easily. They were still sitting with ten minutes to seven o'clock, which meant they were still well within the timeframe Ruby wanted.

The queue kept moving, slowly but surely. The two occupants stayed mostly silent, save for when Blake asked Ruby what she wanted. When they finally got up to order, the driver rolled down the window and made her order. A coffee, cream and five sugars with a strawberry glazed donut for Ruby with two muffins and a black coffee for Blake. "I, uh... I hope you know, I can't actually-"

"Don't worry about paying, Ruby."

"O-oh, alright." The younger girl said, sheepishly. Blake pulled up to the window, payed, got the food and drinks and left, pulling away from the building and into the street before getting stopped at the final light before the school. She waited patiently as the radio faintly played in the background, though the silence in the car allowed it to be the dominate sound.

"Do you like this station?" The driver inquired, "I'll change it if you want?"

Ruby, who wasn't paying attention at all, snapped back into reality with a confused gaze. "Wha-?" She heard the commercials playing in place of once promised music and shook her head, "Oh, it's fine!" She assured, "I don't care what's on. If you like it then I'm fine."

Nodding silently, Blake turned her attention back to the road and drove to Beacon with two minutes before seven. "We made it." She said with a smile as she pulled into the parking lot, trying to figure out just where she wanted to park over the vast choices she had. Ruby also smirked slightly, but otherwise stayed in her seat, not even taking off the seatbelt. Blake looked to her quizzically, "You okay?"

"Y-yeah!" She said, picking up her things, "I'm fine! I just… thanks for the breakfast."

Blake nodded, albeit quizzically, and parked the car, "If you call that breakfast then your eyes are bigger than your stomach." She undid her seatbelt and exited her car as her passenger blushed from the prior comment, though she eventually followed suit. The two got their stuff from the back seat and walked into one of the school's back entrance. From the back, which was the 'General' classes, there was three stories and four wings, each wing for the core classes. Near the main hallway, which led to the other areas of the school, was one of the many aforementioned resting areas of the school. It was in this particular area was where Ruby and her friends generally met, so it was a good spot to sit and eat breakfast too.

The two walked in, Ruby leading the way and made a b-line for her target. She knew exactly where she was going and that was important right now. When they found their location, they noticed it was empty. School wasn't going to start for another hour and a half, but it was comforting to her to be there before the rush of students came at eight. Plus, Velvet usually came in just after seven, with her adoptive sister Coco.

Velvet was an old friend of Ruby's and when the younger girl finally made it to Beacon, the rabbit faunus was beyond ecstatic. She was the very reason Ruby had the friends that she had right now. Velvet and Coco, lovingly referred to as "The Wonder Twins" by Yang, would also be the ones to take Ruby home from school on colder days, alleviating a gracious Neo and Junior from that chore. The two apartment owners were very thankful for Ruby's friends, as they would always do their part to help around as much as possible. Though, to Ruby, these people were her family; these were the people whom she trusted and loved more than anything in the world.

The silver eyed teen took a seat at one of the many benches after arriving to her destination, inviting Blake to sit next to her. The black haired girl accepted and took a seat, seemingly keeping herself at attention on the bench while her friend sat back. Though Ruby wanted to inquire as to why Blake seemed so tense, she passed it off as nervousness towards the new school, unwrapped her mini-meal and began to eat in silence, something that wasn't very uncommon to the young girl. She was used to being one of, if not, the first in the school on a given day. It normally meant that she could get the school-served breakfast and eat until Velvet and Coco got in, but until then meant that she would be eating alone. Having a guest seemed a little better, though.

Ruby finished quickly, wolfing down the glazed donut at an unrivaled speed and crumpled up the wrapping that her donut came in. She turned to Blake and held out an open hand happily, "I'll take care of that." She said simply, referring to Blake's now empty paper bag. The black-haired teen nodded and handed her trash over to Ruby, who walked over to the nearby trash bin, tossing hers and her neighbors bags away.

Before she turned to sit down, Ruby turned to face the hall on the other side of the corner where the bin was as footsteps could be heard approaching. Blake watched and intently listened as a cheery voice seemed to call a name, causing the red-themed teen to smile. "Ruby!" The accented voice called, gaining the attention of both teens. Ruby turned into the hall and instantly smiled as a familiar looking rabbit faunus came rushing towards her, slowing down to reduce the impact of the hug she had in store for her friend.

Faunus were people who had animalistic traits to their DNA. One of many examples was their animal appendages- an extra set of ears or a tail. They were also noted to have had enhanced physical strengths, like greater vision in the dark and a few traits of their respected animal. The genetics behind faunus were still widely unknown to scientists and their physical appearance sometimes caused outrage and hate from a few people, though newer generations were more open to the idea of faunus friends and even lovers.

Ruby and her friends were one such group that widely accepted faunus, many grew up with faunus near or with them, so it was easy to see past any of those traits that 'divided' people.

"How was your weekend?" Velvet inquired, taking the full force of the hug.

"It wasn't too bad!" Ruby began, pulling away from the embrace for a moment, "I have someone I want you to meet!"

"Oh? Who's- Woah!" Velvet was cut off as Ruby began to drag her towards the unfamiliar girl on the bench, "Velvet, this is my new neighbor, Blake!"

"New neighbor and new student, eh?" Another voice called, this one with a slight attitude. The trio turned and discovered the new voices owner: Coco Adel. More commonly known as the 'Fashion designer's daughter with the faunus sister.' But people who mess with Velvet mess with Coco... And messing with Coco was usually the last thing anyone could do. "Welcome to Beacon, sorry you're here."

Velvet turned on a heel and smacked the other girl in the arm with the back of her right hand, completing the full circle spin and stopping on a dime, "Oh stop it!" She turned her attention back to Blake and offered a hand, "Well, Blake, my name's Velvet, this here is Coco-"

"Hello."

"-And any friend of Ruby's is a friend of ours." Coco went so far to prove the point by wrapping a single arm around the young girl and lifting her off of her feet in an awkward embrace. Really it was more of a fear method, her attempt to lord over her strength, prove her dominance. Velvet pretended not to see it happen whilst Ruby called to be let go.

Blake laughed at the display in the middle of the hall before her, but never said a word. From what she had seen of her shy neighbor, it was clear that these two young women were able to bring out a totally different side of Ruby, clearly showing just who the red-themed teen was comfortable with. While she observed, Coco wrapped her second arm around Ruby, forced to drop her bag in order to do so as the feisty teen wouldn't let up her squirming and meager attempts at escape. Velvet came in close, forcing Blake's attention towards the faunus as she examined her, squinting as she came in close. "Have you and I met before?"

"Right?" Ruby called, still trying to break free, but given the satisfaction of having her feet on the floor by Coco, "I'm _not_ the only one who thinks that!"

Blake, again, went wide-eyed and shook her head. "Nope. I don't believe so."

Coco finally eased up her grip before rustling her captives already rustled hair, "I think you gained weight, kid." She joked, whispering into Ruby's ear so nobody else could hear. But Velvet could, her rabbit ears twitching slightly. "That's good, though. Show's someone aside for me is feeding your ass. Now!" Coco's hands smacked together, making an audible clap in the relatively empty hallway, "What classes does she have?"

"What's the sudden interest, Coco? I thought you didn't like new kids?" Ruby quipped with a playful attitude that mimicked the fashionable teen beside her.

Said young woman slugged the younger teen's arm with a grin, "Well if she's your new neighbor, I figured I might as well get to know her." Her grin grew far more sinister as she peered past her adopted sibling and towards Blake, cracking her knuckles all the while, "Plus I want to know if I have a chance to give her the Freshman Special today."

"Well then there's a problem," Ruby declared. "She's not a freshman."

"I can work around that."

Blake grinned slightly, not sure if she was in any danger or not. At this point she didn't want to take a risk, but Ruby and Velvet both came to her aide quickly. "She's with me and my friends most of the time." Ruby once again declared, this time rather sternly to ensure that her point was made. "Now I don't want to hear about you harassing her, got it?"

"Oh? What's this?" Coco chuckled, taking the hood of Ruby's red jacket and flipping it over the silver-eyed teens face. "You telling me what to do, acting all tough? Oh yeah. Real Cute." She put her victim into a headlock, though said captive was able to break free easily this time. Coco cited the hood as the issue. "And don't worry." She held up her right hand, keeping her left hand behind her back as if she were taking an oath. "I promise to not harass Blake before you do."

"Will you stop it!" Velvet nudged, "You're incredibly sassy today!"

"Oh yeah? So what?"

"Are we _really_ going to have that argument again?"

"You wanna take this outside, sister?!"

"Let's!" Velvet led the way as the two walked down the hall. A round of laughter could be heard as they got closer to the door. _'They'll never go through with it.'_ Ruby thought with a smirk. She took her seat next to Blake again and relaxed while the dreaded awkward silence returned. While the duo waited in the desolate halls, the younger of the two began to contemplate her faunus friend.

Velvet and Ruby have known each other for years and when Ruby got accepted to Beacon, she knew _nobody_ at the school. Tentative would be a good word to describe her, up until she heard that voice... The voice of an old, long lost friend.

That's when she saw Velvet.

The two were reunited and nearly inseparable from then on. Her and Coco were in on Ruby's secret, yes, but only because Ruby let them in on it. Ruby could trust Velvet, seeing as they've known each other for as long as they did. The faunus and her 'sister' tried to help Ruby as best as they could, but the secretive teen only accepted academic help.

Eventually, sound of someone walking down the hall brought Ruby back into the real world, where Blake had pulled out a book and started reading. _'How long have I been thinking?_ ,' Ruby pondered, _'I'm such a bad friend! I could be sitting here talking to Blake but instead I'm just ignoring her! Oh please, someone come down and help me out!.'_ Turning her attention the left corner, silver eyes blinked in mild surprise to find Pyrrha without a Jaune or a Nora with her. Normally she would be accompanied by one or the other. "H-hey, Pyrrha!"

The red haired gymnast smiled lightly and met her younger friend's gaze, "Hey, Ruby." She turned to Blake and pointed, quizzically. Though Blake seemingly paid her no mind, raising an eyebrow as if she knew that someone was pointing towards her without looking up to see that person. Ruby gladly answered the silent question.

"She's the new girl. Didn't Yang tell you?"

"Oh." The gymnast shook her head with mild surprise, "Yang only told me one thing. Oh well! My name's Pyrrha, it's nice to meet you." She offered a handshake, which Blake accepted. A new girl in the middle of the school year was definitely not a normal event.

As Pyrrha got comfortable, setting her bag down at her feet while sitting in the next bench beside long-waiting duo, Ruby began to make a quick conversation based on one thing that had been bugging her since the emerald-eyed teen got in. "So Pyrrha, where's Jaune?" She inquired slyly, partially knowing the answer.

"I called him earlier and he said he was sick."

"Oh, really?" Ruby sarcastically said as she rolled her silver eyes. "After him talking about a new game coming out all last week, I'm not sure how much I believe that."

"He's not exactly the best liar in the world, you know."

The talk of this new, unknown young man caught Blake's attention, causing her to stop reading, though she kept her book up just in case so she could avoid intruding. "And didn't his sister say that she wanted to play, too?"

"I swear those two could conspire to take down Vale's government if you gave them the right motivation."

"Like a video game?"

"Ha!" Pyrrha smirked at the quick quip, though knew that it was probably true. "He changed his story a few times when i called him too. He said that it wasn't him, it was his sister that was sick, then he said that he made a deal with his parents to hold down the shop while they took care of her, then said that he was working after she felt better."

"Geez, he's gonna have to get that story straight, sooner or later." Ruby sighed, disappointed at Jaune's poor attempts to throw someone off of his tail. Note to self, to run to him if you're in trouble with the law. "Genius either way. We'll have to run by the store after school to see if he held up his end of the bargain."

"For sure." Pyrrha agreed quickly, knowing full well just how well the Arc kids could scheme. The Arc family ran a string of shops within Vale, just small Mom 'n Pop type stores that had expanded from two locations to seven throughout the big city, and one new on in Mountain Glenn just outside of the walls. Usually Jaune and a few of his sister's, all of whom were of age to work, would travel to some of the stores to work, where they would help manage the location or just work wherever they were needed, and the family of eight kids, one boy and seven girls and two adults lived above the original store location. Pyrrha kept thinking about how cute Jaune's younger sisters looked in their store uniforms, always five sizes too big, as well as how good Jaune looked in his but quickly shook away her smile at the thought, however, knowing it's nothing new, then turned to Blake, "Enough about that, though. So, where are you from?"

Blake was a tad surprised by the question, clearly not expecting it, "Oh, I'm from a small town out on the east coast of the country." She said, "I got my acceptance letter late and was only able to start looking for a new place in the city a few days ago."

Pyrrha nodded, "So where are you living."

"Next door to Ruby." Pyrrha flinched at the simple answer.

"Really?" Ruby nodded in confirmation as Pyrrha refused to let an opprotunity leave her, "I'm sorry to hear that."

The black haired girl raised an eyebrow, unsure if the tall teen beside her was serious or not. This must have been what Ruby was talking about, with the rather rude comments. Though, the aforementioned teen saw it coming and had a shot in return ready.

"Screw you, Pyrrha." Ruby easily sighed, "You and I both know that I'd be a better neighbor than you, miss _'Let's have as loud of a party as possible'_."

"You know that wasn't my fault!"

"You were hosting it, it's all on you!"

Blake was unsure as to what was happening, but let it all happen anyway. Obviously Ruby had this under control… She hoped.

"I'm blaming Yang and that's that. She still owers my neighbors an apology."

"Not like she could help it, just remember how many she had that night."

"Zero." Pyrrha replied sternly, offended at the implication that anyone drank at her parties. "She knew exactly what she was doing with the stereo speakers."

"It was fun, though."

"But-"

"But it was fun… Right?"

The emerald eyed teen shook her head and sighed, folding her arms in front of her chest and sat back in her seat defeated. "Fine. Whatever. New topic."

"Fine." Ruby said, earning a wink from Blake as a job well done. With that, the red-themed teen decided to return the conversation back to its root. "Blake has most of her classes with us, so I figured that if she had any questions, at least one of us would be there to help." Pyrrha rubbed her chin, but nodded regardless. "So, on that note... When's Yang going to get here?"

"Aw, miss her, do we?" Pyrrha teased as Ruby blushed, waving her arms in preparation to defend herself. Pyrrha cut her off, though, "When I talked to her last night she said she'd be in at her normal time today. Why?"

"Just curious..." Pyrrha didn't buy the reaction one bit, but chose not push her friend, given what Yang had told her over the weekend. The blonde had convinced Pyrrha to stop teasing their younger friend, something that Pyrrha is now consciously trying to avoid doing. Ruby was an odd one to the gymnast, someone who she wanted to know, but wouldn't open up to anyone...

Almost anyone, that is.

Without further conversation, more voices were heard further down the hall. Pyrrha realized that there were indeed more people moving about the corridor. It was getting close to class time. At least, it was getting close to eight o'clock.

She didn't know what time exactly Ren and Nora were going to get in. By the sounds of it, the previous night was hell at the restaurant. Yang, on the other hand, said she didn't volunteer to work with her dad on Sunday at the hospital, so she would be in relatively early. Earlier than normal, at least.

The blonde was well known in the school as the 'Medical Master', or 'Medical Mistress', depending on preference. Her father, Taiyang, is a doctor who is turning heads in the medical world with his belief of 'Free Medicine for Children' campaign, which has gained global support with doctors, but not so much with hospital heads. It was with this belief that anyone under the age of eighteen would be, and should be, entitled to free medical care. He wasn't the one who started it, but he was a huge supporter of it, offering free exams, screenings and even surgeries (only in extreme cases) for children whose parents can't afford it. Yang was also a believer in this cause, and volunteered with her father at the hospital on weekends and was slowly working her way up from the front desk and now helping the nurses whenever she was needed.

Unfortunately, despite the belief of the Xiao Longs, the hospital which they work for doesn't believe in their cause, and would attempt to charge families for procedures. They went hard on poorer families, until a Xiao Long would step in.

Speaking of which, the blonde walked into the school calmly. She weaved through the small mass of groups that had accumulated in the halls and headed straight for her group after using the same entrance that Ruby and Blake had used earlier. She turned the corner and was met by a small amount of cheers. She smiled as she sarcastically cheered back, "Yay, Monday!" She said as she threw herself into the seat next to Pyrrha. "I never thought a weekend could be so fast."

"I didn't think you worked?"

"Not yesterday, but I did on Saturday, and it's because I didn't work yesterday that it went so fast." The athletic teen beside her nodded affirmatively, "Saturday couldn't have gone by any slower! So many stupid kids with stupid injuries."

"Like?" Ruby egged on, causing Yang consider which story to tell, which one was best.

"Well," The blonde began, readjusting her seat slightly, "There was one kid whose mother was a pain… He twisted his ankle, not even a sprain, and his mom kept saying _'You gotta fix him, he can't stop playing baseball, he has a scholarship! You gotta help him.'_ " The group began to chuckle as Yang's impersonation required a nasally voice with a funny face, "Well, good news! He just needs some ice and he'll be fine. Take it easy for a few days and the pain should go away. Easy, right? Nope. _'Well he can't stop playing baseball, he's gonna have a scholarship he's so good.'_ "

"And?" Pyrrha inquired.

"He was five." Yang deadpanned, causing the group to break out in laughter. "I swear! She was like _'He doesn't have one yet, but he will! He's a slugger!'_ Like, okay, lady, he hurt himself playing. Keep him off of his feet for a few hours and I swear he'll be fine. _'No! No! You have to help!'_ Bitch, I am helping! Get the hell out!"

It took a minute before the group could gain their composure, by the time they did Ruby was the first to speak. "I love helicopter parent stories. Was the dad there."

Yang happily nodded with a smile, "Yes, and he was shaking his head like _'I have no idea what she's talking about, he wasn't even hurt.'_ "

Blake was next to speaking, only allowing a small 'Wow' to escape her lips, which brought Yang's attention to her, thinking that this unfamiliar teen was the new student that Ruby spoke of on Friday.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Yang apologetically turned to Blake, "I should have introduced myself. I'm Yang."

"Blake." The black haired girl accepted the soft hand, which quickly turned into an iron-like grip from Yang.

"Can I assume this is your new neighbor?" Ruby nodded, knowing the question was aimed at her. "Nice. If Ruby hasn't told you yet, I work at the local hospital as a volunteer with my dad in the pediatric ward."

Blake nodded in amusement. Ruby didn't really mention it, though she could tell after that little story earlier.

Ruby picked her head up and began to spoke, "I've told Pyrrha this, Yang, and I'll tell you too; Blake has almost all of her classes with us... So, I figured-"

"If she needs anything, I got her back." Yang affirmed to her younger friends joy, who nodded happily and leaned back in her seat, awaiting a new conversation.

As the morning progressed more and more students came in, the small group sat around their area, waiting for class to start. They discussed the class work that Blake should expect, and went into greater detail with what the students were like. Something Ruby had a hard time explaining.

Eventually Ren and Nora staggered in, almost throwing their bodies onto the cushioned bench that Pyrrha and Yang were seated on without speaking anything less than a grunt. The duo moved over to let their visibly warn friends have a few more moments of downtime. They had gotten in with only a few minutes before class would begin, and judging by how they were acting right now, might not want to know how long they had.

Surely they would have a story to tell at lunch today.

The bell rang as the air seemed to shift. Students began moving a tad bit faster through the hallway, wanting to get to their first class early for good seats in the back of the class. "So, first block." Yang sighed.

"Sixth." Ruby corrected simply, "Black day."

"Whatever! I don't want to go!" Yang whined, "I want on more weekend, just one day! Please?"

Ruby shook her head and was the first who stood up and began walking to the group's first class; Physics class with Peach. Mrs. Peach was considered to be one of the nicest teachers is the school, who also took absolutely no crap from anyone. She was all for fun and class discussion, but the moment you overstep your bounds, you might as well be mulch.

One upside on a Black day was that the group never had to leave class to go to free block. Every free block was the same class every day, which meant they never had to go far.

Yang quickly caught up to the younger friend and began a race to class, which she barely won, being the first to enter, followed closely by a playfully bummed Ruby, then Pyrrha with Blake bringing up the rear, following the gymnast closely. Somewhere behind them was Nora and Ren, though the group didn't know where exactly. Yang sat down in the back of the class, facing forward. Each classroom's seating order was the same, in terms of design. Five or six rows of two desks, with an aisle in between. Each desk could hold two students. Along the side were desks that closed in the other inner desks.

The teen with wild blonde hair took the back row, claiming it for her whole group. She sat in the seat closest to the isle. Ruby took the seat to her left, Blake taking to the left of the younger. Pyrrha sat in the row ahead of the trio for Nora and Ren. Normally, a certain Blonde young man would be accompanying Pyrrha, but to Yang, those were jokes for another time.

More and more students poured into the class, yet Peach was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps she was printing something off? Maybe she's talking with another teacher, or she could just be late. To Yang, all of these were viable and welcomed options. But when one of the student's, Mercury Black, entered the room, she quickly hoped that the instructor would get there soon, as only trouble followed him.

A young man with an average build usually decked out in all grey and black, including his hair. He was a champion kickboxer and a notorious bad-boy in the school, but his arrogance got in the way of his sly personality. Spiky hair was kept back, though few bangs dropped in front of the left side of his face. He peered to the back of the class and sighed at the sight before him. "Aw, crap." He said, mock dejection laced in his voice. "You're all here."

Ruby sighed with annoyance and shook her head, "Here we go..."

Blake watched patiently as the black haired boy walked slowly to the far side of the class towards the opposite corner from the group, front right. Based on Ruby's reaction to the boy's rather rude entrance, she could tell he wasn't very fond of the group. "Oh-hoh, don't even start with me, Mercury." Yang snapped with malice.

The few students in the classroom stopped what they were doing and watched the display, knowing full well that it would turn into something enjoyable. "I'm not starting anything. You are. By still being _here_." He said, shrugging, "And look at that, you've even got a new kid tangled in with you. Isn't that sweet?" Blake held her hands up, clearly opting to stay out of whatever this was. A smooth, calm voice called the attention of anyone in the room.

"Oh, Mercury, stop." A small woman soothed, walking ever closer to the taller boy. "Don't tease the new kid before we even have a chance to get to know her..."

"You don't even know _us_..." Ruby said under her breath, not really intending to be heard. Blake, however, easily caught the comment, but kept her gaze on these strange students before her.

"Okay, new girl. I'm going to give you a choice, here." The bow wearing teen cocked her head slightly at the new arrival's words, "Right now you're with the bottom rung, the unmentionable ones of the school. But, if you agree right now, you could be with us, the elite. The-"

"The rich, snoody, stuck up tightwads who only think they're so popular because they have daddy's precious wallet so close to their face while they kiss daddy's precious ass." Yang harshly interrupted, "You aren't the elite, you aren't the best of the best. In fact, you're nothing more than egotists who go around trying to pick on anyone whose family name isn't on a box in the grocery store." The woman gritted her teeth as Yang continued her malice-laced tirade, "Now, unless you want another verbal beat down of epic proportions, I suggest you take your mouth, shut it, and sit down in the corner where you belong."

Two other girls entered the room as Yang sat down. A round of applause came towards the blonde in the back as she composed herself. "Oh, Cinder..." The white haired girl spoke, "You _had_ to instigate another fight."

"I didn't instigate _anything_ , Weiss." The young woman, now known as Cinder, said, "They just showed why they are considered to be the bottom rung of the school" Regardless of her words, Weiss still pinched the bridge of her nose. She sat down in the front of the class, clearly not wanting anything to do with what just transpired. Her group joined her in the front of the class. "Oh, and new girl," Cinder said before having a seat, "My offer is always open."

As she sat, the bell rang again, indicating that class had begun. Peach walked in with a stack of papers. "Alright, class!" She called, bringing attention to herself, "I'm going to let the stragglers get in before starting." She sat the stack of papers down and started the computer on her desk, turning on the overhead projector, too. "Today is going to be mostly notes. But there might be an assignment at the end. Just depends on how well we do... In terms of speed at least."

The moment she stopped talking is when Yang finally sat back in her chair. "Blake," She called. The new girl peered over to the blonde, who held a stern look. Not because she was mad at Blake, but because she was mad at the kids in the front. "I'm not going to stop you from doing anything; you choose who you want to be friends with... But them-" She pointed to the front, "-If you don't like greedy, prissy little kids who get everything they want with a snap of a finger, then you might not like them."

Blake thought for a moment. As she did, Pyrrha and Ruby both looked at her. The former with a rather stoic expression, while the latter had... A more pleading one... One telling her not to join the other group, to stay with them... Blake had seen that look before, and couldn't betray it a second time. She happily made her decision, "Nah," She shook her head, "I think I'm good staying with you all."

* * *

 **So yeah, we have a situation here, don't we? Aside for my shitty storytelling, at least.**

 **Yes, I will expound on Velvet's relationship later, as it will become far more relevant then. But now... Nah.**

 **So how was this chapter? I kinda felt that it was a little long-winded, but that's the way these stories are going to go for a few chapters. Once we actually get into some story I promise it'll get more fun and less boring. Sorry, but still I hope you enjoy the info drop! Again, looking forward to hearing from you guys.**

 **The next one is in the grinder to be reworked, may take a while. I promise I'll have something fun for you all soon. Until then, I'll see you next time.**


	5. First Day of Class pt2

**Hey, all! So, I meant to upload this yesterday but I got kinda busy. Sorry.**

 **The next chapter after this is also complete and should be uploaded in less than a week, so look forward to about Sunday or Monday.**

 **As for last chapter, I'm glad Weiss' introduction was so widely noticed. She'll have a very special role to play very soon, so let her hype begin! As for this chapter, it really sets up for how school normally is for the students of Beacon. I actually formed it from my High School's schedule, which was specifically meant to ready students for College life, which I though was kinda neat when I finally realized what the hell we were doing every other day.**

 **Times like this that make me realize that I don't give that place enough credit.**

 **Anyway, the next two or three chapters are gonna be kinda long, but that's the nature of the beast unfortunately. Eh, you seem to enjoy the longer chapters more anyway, so I don't think it'll be too bad. I hope you all enjoy this next one!**

* * *

The day got more and more interesting as it progressed on. Blake had noticed that the proclaimed 'elite group' had been eyeing her carefully. Specifically, the shorter one with black, shiny hair she now knew as Cinder Fall. As time passed, Blake had more and more questions of her classmates; who is who, where do they go, what do they do? She was far more interested in learning of her new friends over the other kids, but still, some of these cliques, which would be generally average, everyday high school groups, consisted of clearly interesting people.

During the Free Block, Pyrrha took the time to inform Blake about the 'elites', consisting of Cinder Fall, Mercury Black, Emerald Sustri and Weiss Schnee. Apparently the last two were considered the more docile of the group, only because they didn't really participate in any instigating or harassing that the first two would commit to. Weiss, actually seemed more annoyed whenever her group did such things, according to Pyrrha being above all of the childish shenanigans. The white haired girl was certainly the enigma of the group... There's always one in every group.

One of Blake's many observations through her life was the people within any group. Each group has at least one of each person, the enigma being one that was more of an oddball, one that you wouldn't anticipate or underestimate for whatever reason. Then there was the quiet one, the buff or athletically strong one, the quick thinker, the motherly one who always cared and acted like an older sibling when needed, and finally there was the sexually intriguing one. Sure, there were sexually actives, but the intriguing one wasn't necessarily active, just open. Someone could even be two or three, but there was always one in each group, as well as more, less-than-noteworthy parts of the list.

Pyrrha tried to warn Blake of why she should avoid this group, but Yang stepped in, nearly losing her composure completely, and went on a tangent about how sick those kids were. Apparently, she had a history with them, but nobody was will willing to explain further. Not even Ruby knew why.

Blake had also learned about her new group of friends during their free time. Nora and Ren worked in the _'Nordic Lotus'_ , a very popular restaurant in the city of Vale that was known for its charity. The owners, Lie Ren's parents, went into business before the stoic boy was born, but about sixteen years ago met Nora's family, well-known and respected chefs who were looking for a job in their new home. Ren's family took them in, and soon their business was thriving. The Valkyries and the Ren's have been living together ever since, as they now owned most of the corner of the block (which has been transformed into their living quarters).

For years Ren and Nora have worked together in their families shop, ever since they were kids. Many of the older regulars could remember the two since they were but children, running around the place, helping as much as possible, which their parents had tricked them into helping by saying it was playing. The restaurant also was especially known for doing the most charity work in the city, offering any and all leftover food to the homeless, as well as participating in Food Drives. Despite their fame, they kept prices as fair as possible, and paid all employees incredibly well.

Pyrrha Nikos and her family had moved to Vale a few years prior, just before Middle School. She met Yang and Nora during this time in elementary school, and the two helped their new friend ever since. As time went on, Pyrrha began to work more and more on her athletics and gymnastics. She was a star volleyball player as well as a gymnast, knowing never to overstep her bounds and to take it easy from time to time. She wasn't even a senior yet and she was already getting college letters. She didn't see herself as a prodigy, but she did feel as though she was skilled.

The humble girl stuck by her friends like glue. Over time, she would meet Jaune Arc. If it were two years ago, she'd swear she didn't know who he was. If it was the end of Freshman year she would swear they weren't doing anything. If it were the start of sophomore year, she would swear they weren't dating...

But then Homecoming happened.

The two danced their way into Sophomore Homecoming King and Queen, beating out Mercury and Cinder. That is part of the reason why the two elitists have grown so bold recently; to demean and reduce the feeling of being the King and Queen. But it didn't affect the two in the slightest. That still left a window for Yang to crack jokes every now and again.

Speaking of the blonde. Blake learned more about her... Rather busty new friend during class as well. Ruby had explained much, but Yang was happy to go into greater detail.

Yang's father, Taiyang, worked in Pediatrics at Vale General and Receiving. When Yang was thirteen, she began volunteering in the same ward, offering comfort to kids who were about to undergo surgeries or other procedures. The blonde was a natural, and even said she wouldn't mind that being a full time job. Blake could read the naturally caring aura of the girl like a book, it practically permeated off of her.

She was a loving, caring person, who wasn't afraid to teach someone what-for if she had to. Normally, though, Yang wouldn't have to use force. She seemed like she could be a very reasonable individual.

This finally led to Ruby. The group was very adamant about the younger girl, with many good things to say. However, despite all of the positives, Ruby still shrunk in her seat, clearly not enjoying being the center of attention. Yang had used words like 'Shy' and 'quiet', but then used 'determined', 'hard working'... She could swear she heard the blonde compliment the girl on her looks, too, but chose not to push it.

From what Blake could gather, The group had only known Ruby for about a year. "She and Velvet had known each other for a while, I guess," Yang started, "When Ruby was accepted to Beacon and moved up to our grade, it was Velvet who took her in and showed her around. But Vel couldn't be in class with her, as she is a year up from us. So, she found me, and I took the reins on this one." She pulled Ruby into a headlock with her right arm, much to the girls protest. Peach, at her desk, was tempted to tell Yang to stop, but chose to restrain herself, knowing of their group's dynamic and understanding that this was normal.

Actually, it happened almost every day. If you were in arms reach of Yang, then you were under constant threat of a bear hug.

Despite knowing Ruby for a year, she was still very reserved about her home life. She didn't say anything too personal, besides describe her parents. Two people that Blake was definitely ready to meet.

She noticed how Yang and Pyrrha talked about Ruby's parents, especially since both confirmed that they never met them. _'So they don't know them either? Where are they, really?'_ She pondered to herself contemplating on calling Ruby out on the spot, but chose against it. Maybe an altercation like this so early with her new friends wasn't such a good idea, but it was good to note that she would have to talk to the teen about it soon.

Before the group could complement each other more, a familiar bell rang out through the school's P.A. system, more of an alarm than anything, signalling the end of class. With free block over, students now had to go to their next class which was an elective course. Today's elective was Health for Blake, and she was curious to know who would be joining her. The others packed their stuff and rose up, lilac orbs eyeing the black-themed teen beside Ruby, "I looked at your schedule, and you're with me next class! So follow-" Yang declared theatrically, as she began to exit the room, "-And I shall lead you to the promise land!"

Blake felt a hand on her stomach, stopping her from moving after she stood up. She looked down, and saw the back of a head, red streaks running through the moderately long brunette hair. As the head turned around, she realized it was Ruby. "Blake," She whispered, "If you see or hear those other kids around Yang, don't be afraid to drag her away from them, alright?" Her eyes held a pleading look, "It'll be better if you take her out of it, rather than let her escalate it..."

Blake looked towards the door, then down to her neighbor and silently nodded. Ruby stepped aside, allowing passage for the new student. She sighed as Blake exitted, as her next class left her without a friend from her group to back her up. Then again, nobody really bothered each other in Drafting, anyway, so it wasn't _all_ bad.

Blake followed her blonde friend out of the class and into the halls with the flood of uniformed students seemed to make a roadway out of their hallway. Staying to their right, going with the flow of traffic as it were. Yang led Blake down the hall, away from the Science part of the Gen-Ed wing. Down by the gymnasium was the Health related classes. It only made sense to put them near a gym and a weight room, where injuries are prevalent enough to get a good education in.

"So, Blake." Yang began as they marched away from the Gen-Ed wing, "How are you liking Vale so far?"

"I like it," Blake answered, honestly, "I've heard really nice things about the fall here." In truth, she knew about the fall as she had lived within the city limits of Vale for a few years before leaving for the east coast, then going back and forth throughout her life. Still, her new friends didn't need to know that. Yang nodded, noting the short answer as the duo walked through a small crowd of students before turning to the Athletic wing of the school. "I mean, I've been here a few times before, I just never got the chance to see the leaves change or anything like that."

Lilac eyes blinked as their owner slowly nodded, "It _is_ beautiful sometimes. Even better on Patch, too."

 _'Oh, don't I know it…'_ Blake thought, quickly shaking it away. "I don't think it matters too much. I'll get to see it eventually, right?"

Yang chuckled, "Yeah, for sure."

They walked into the classroom, empty as it was. Health class was taught by Glynda Goodwitch, who was also the coach for two female sports teams, Volleyball and Swimming. She only taught one Health class while Professor Peach doubled her work and covering the other. Peach also tag teamed with Glynda and covered the Infirmary, which also doubled as a class for the Medical students who went beyond the basic Health level.

The two took a seat along the back wall of the class (apparently the back was Yang's favorite area of a classroom) and waited. After a minute of silence, a figure walked through the door. Both turned and saw a fairly tall woman, with neatly made light-blonde hair in a bun and glasses over her emerald eyes. She looked to her right and saw Yang and Blake. "Miss Xiao Long..." She greeted, "-And...? I believe you're Blake Belladonna?"

Blake nodded, "Yes, I am."

Glynda returned her new students nod, "Great. Better late to a semester than never. If you need help with anything, feel free to ask me or Miss Xiao Long to your left." Yang waved, "She's one of the best in the school's Health Education classes. Though, I do feel that working in a hospital as often as she does may be cheating..." Yang waved her teacher of. "Nevertheless, you still picked a fine group to befriend. Now, if you girls will excuse me, I have to load up our presentation for today."

The instructor took her seat at the front-most desk in the class and began working with the computer at the desk. As she did, more and more students arrived, including Nora. "-And there she is!" Yang cheered, "The special addition Nora Valkyrie, now includes her without her boyfriend!"

Nora blushed playfully thankful that there wasn't anyone else in the room. "Yang..." She whispered, "We aren't _together_ -together..."

"Yeah right. It's not like it's a secret." Yang waved her friend off and offered the seat to her left. "Anymore..."

That last comment was quiet enough to be unheard by Nora, but Blake still caught it and giggled. She barely knew these kids, but after only a few hours felt like she had been friends with them for years.

The room started to fill as side conversations begun; students aimlessly discussing anything from school gossip to home life. Blake tuned it all out as she prepared herself for her next class. In Peach's class, she didn't have to do any of the "get to know you" stuff which was usually reserved for the start of a semester, which was fantastic to her. She wasn't for that 'Icebreaker' nonsense. Unfortunately for her, Goodwitch didn't seem like the forgiving teacher. According to both Yang and Nora, Blake would have to give a moment of class time to talk about herself.

The bell rang as students rushed to take their seats. Glynda gave a moment before standing up to begin her class. "Alright students," She called, "Settle down." Her class did as she commanded, not making her repeat herself. They knew of the repercussions of pissing off Goodwitch. Blake was impressed, to say the least; that was respect that one earned… Or fear lorded over after a long career. "If you haven't already been able to see, we do in fact have a new student here with us, today." All eyes turned to Blake as she physically and mentally tensed up, "Miss Belladonna, could you give us something about yourself?"

Blake nodded as she rose from her seat, "Uh, Hi... I'm Blake Belladonna…" She began, awkwardly, "I like reading, writing and I'm not really sure what I should be talking about..."

Goodwitch and the rest of the class had a chuckle at the new girls' honesty, "Alright. Well, how about telling us where you're from and how you're enjoying your time here in Vale... Or how you hate it? Sky's the limit..."

Blake accepted the challenge, "I'm from the east coast of the country, and I've actually been to Vale a few times in the past..." She started, "Every time I come here I enjoy myself, so hopefully living here for more than three months won't ruin that?" Her attempt at humor unfortunately fell on deaf ears as she chuckled nervously. "That's basically it..."

Glynda nodded. "Alright then. You can have a seat, Miss Belladonna. So, class, I feel it's only appropriate we start on a new subject this week..." Glynda began to trail off as Blake sat down. She popped open her notebook and started writing down the notes that were on the presentation in front of her. Turning to her left, she saw Nora doing, albeit rather poor, sketches... To be frank, Blake didn't know what the young chef was drawing...

Yang on the other hand was stretching, not even bothering to open a notebook. Blake would normally think that would be sheer laziness, but then she remembered what everyone has told her so far... Yang is a whiz at health.

With all of this going on, Blake wondered how everyone else was doing with their classes...

* * *

Ruby sat at her station, keeping a large piece of draft paper in front of her.

For Beacon students who took the CTE classes, they would have their class of choice every day at the same period. So, for Ruby, this meant Drafting (she would call it Engineering, though that wasn't the correct name) every day.

The Drafting instructor was out today, which meant a substitute. However, their sub of choice wasn't exactly the brightest, which meant it was essentially a free day. For Ruby, this was a blessing and a curse: The day was easy, but dangerously slow.

For a moment, at least. As Ruby kept drawing on her Draft Board, a shadow blocked out the light. She felt a looming force over her, a little worried. She didn't have any friends in this class, but also she didn't have any enemies. So who could this be...?

She looked over her shoulder to see two students, both the same height and barely taller than Ruby was; Dove Bronzewing and Sky Lark. "Boys..." She greeted, cautiously.

"Ruby..." Sky began, his voice barely matured, "I think you know why we're here..." Ruby thought for a second, drawing a blank, though she was sure she knew what they were talking about. "Aw, come on! You said you'd help us draft our Welding project today!"

 _'Oh yeah...'_ Ruby thought. That promise had completely slipped her mind.

It wasn't uncommon for the Wood Shop or Metal Lab students to utilize the Drafting class's work. Of course, there would have to be _something_ in it for the drafters, which they generally made demands. Extra Credit was a sure thing, regardless, but drafters could also ask for monetary 'donations' for their work. A thing that wasn't sanctioned by the school officially, only so long as no money changed hands _during_ school hours.

The school can't stop their students off campus.

"Right." Ruby calmly exhaled, tearing off the paper on her board. "Take a seat and talk to me..."

The two boys did as they were told and pulled up a seat next to their helper. "Right," Sky began, "Well, we were going to work with Russel and Cardin, of course... But they copped out on us..."

"Uh oh, trouble in paradise?" Ruby joked, earning a glare from the two boys. "Pft. No fun..."

"-Anyway... They copped out and now we're left stranded with only a day before our project plan is due..." Ruby stared at the boys, silently asking them to go on, "We don't know what to make..."

"Clearly." Instantly, Ruby's head dropped. She propped herself up on her draft board with her hands and buried her face. "Uhg, you're killing me!" she silently screamed, "You two know exactly what it takes to annoy me here. You know that, right?" The two boys rubbed the backs of their heads awkwardly, not saying a word nor shying away from her scolding. She was right, the least they could have done was thought about this over the weekend. "Well, let's do something that is rather difficult to make, for high points at competitions, that both of you can also use..." She sat back in her chair, propping her short legs up on a nearby empty stool while twisting her body slightly to the right so that she could draw in comfort… At least, what passed as comfort for her. All three of the students thought of a project that could be useful, but had a difficult time. Welding projects were easier to make, just because of speed.

Difficulty, however, didn't mean slower speed. It just meant more of an intricate design. "How about..." Ruby started, "We make a really big grill..." She thought further, her imagination starting to run wild, "A charcoal one, obviously, but one that puts regular grills to shame..."

Sky and Dove looked at each other, "Uh... What?' The scrawnier boy asked.

"Okay, have you seen those big industrial sized grills that can cook, like, fifty-thousand things at once?" Both boys nodded. Ruby gave them a look before they understood what she was saying. "We make one of those huge industrial grills, and at the end of all of this, Dove, you're uncle can make it a gas-powered one, just for sheer principal!"

Dove nodded, clearly excited. "Depending on how we do it, that could give us huge marks at competitions!"

"Right!" Ruby clapped, "Give me a half hour and I'll have your draft." Both boys nodded and left the girl to her work. She pulled her hood over her head and started the draft, using everything to her current power to make it good. _'Oh, both of them will be paying me_ bigtime _...'_ Ruby happily thought. Money is money and she could charge the two big bucks for all of this.

Her design was a grill, made up almost entirely of 50-gallon metal barrels. One or two would be used for a base, while using two or three for the main grill, welded all together with proper holes and markings to be transformed into a gas-powered grill. There would even be a second level resting just above the middle of the main grill; this level creating smoked goods. It was a design she had seen before and one she dearly wanted to see done.

Her imagination ran as wild as her pencil, making the proper marks for dimensions and size. After a while, she put down exactly what was needed in terms of parts and components to make it all work. Her hopes were that it would take one to two weeks to acquire all of the supplies needed, and then over a month or two to fully create the behemoth. Then, they would have to attach it to a trailer because of its sheer size, but that would have to wait until after the winter. Thankfully, though, competitions ran in late April, which left ample time to weld the thing to the trailer after winter was over.

In what seemed like a few moments, both boys returned, eager to see their design. Ruby finished it up with her signature at the bottom right corner, finally leaning back in her chair to rest her left arm.

"Whew!" She exhaled, rather surprised by her own work. "I, uh, think I got carried away..." Ruby had gone so far as to shade in some parts of the grill.

"I'll take it!" Sky declared, "So... I'm going to assume you want some dough for this...?"

"I know I'm getting credit for this with my little signature down there, so yes, you can pay me..." She thought of a price. Lark and Bronzewing weren't exactly the 'elites', but they weren't.. .Well, they weren't _her_ , either... So... "How's about fifty?"

"I'd do forty..." Dove said.

"Forty-five." She negotiated, to which both boys agreed, "Pay me tomorrow, we'll meet by the flagpole and you can pay me." Both boys agreed and left the class. Ruby examined the clock, realizing she still had half a class to go before she got out of there. "I wonder how much sleep I can get...?"

* * *

Pyrrha sat back on her respective chair while Professor Oobleck handed out the class assignment. Their chosen elective was a foreign language course on Mistral's native tongue, _'Latcio'_. It had been a dream of Pyrrha's to learn the language, as her heritage stemmed from Mystral and all of her family, save for her parents, lived within that kingdom and some even knew the language. It had been perfectly preserved throughout the years, despite time and the progress of humanity. Some of her family only speak in Latcio and she thought it wise to get to know the language to at least try and understand what they were saying during the holidays. Jaune was also apart of the class, despite today's absence, doing this because… Well, Pyrrha dragged him into it.

Plus he needed an extra credit course to graduate, so it's now or delay it until next year.

The athletic teen took about her worksheet, which was just a definition sheet. Basic words she already knew just needed the definition. She normally went for the harder assignments, but today she had to jump down to her classes level. A little voice in her mind told her to punch Jaune later today for ditching her to play video games when he should have been helping her study for the many weekly tests her grandmother gives. The older Nikos would call from across the sea and quiz her, the grades being how long they can hold a conversation in Latcio. Recently, they've been able to go for nearly an hour and on days where she had this class, she and Jaune would hurry through the assignment and he would then quiz her in the language, even though he could barely speak it.

' _He can barely even speak English,'_ She internally quipped with a smile, _'No, that's not right to think. I can only do that when he's here to joke with… English is the only class he can get right.'_

"Miss Nikos." Oobleck hurriedly said after coming to a swift halt before Pyrrha's desk, taking a sip from his famous thermos. She snapped to attention and sat up in her seat, "I hope we're not dozing off in class today with the absence of our significant other. That wouldn't fly very well with the coaches after all." Another sip as he finally stopped talking.

"Right, no sir." She dejectedly complied with a nod, her long ponytail shifting slightly with her sudden movement. "I'll get right to work on it." She fooled nobody though, as her instructor raised an eyebrow, as if calling a bluff. "What?"

He sighed, closing his eyes behind his thick, coke-bottle glasses. "Miss Nikos, I understand that the material is too easy for you and believe me, I know what it feels like. But just because you're at a level above the rest of the class doesn't mean I can or will treat you with a difference. You're going to have to move along at our pace, unfortunately." She, once again, nodded with mild disappointment, even though he wasn't done. "However, if you so desire I can offer extra credit for more difficult assignments. With your grades it won't do much, but at least it'll provide a challenge for you."

His calm demeanor and tone spoke to the teen, signifying his seriousness at the offer. The instructors of Beacon never were ones to deviate from the Department Journal on how to run the semester's class, but Extra Credit was free game for the teachers to decide. And even though she was getting all A's in every class, she couldn't pass up an opportunity like this. This would mean bonus practice on top of the work she and Jaune put forth!

"I think I'd like that." She happily responded with a small smirk, trying to keep her cool as best as she could. She always tried to keep her composure in high stress situations. Though this wasn't high stress, she didn't want to lose control in thanking the instructor for his offer. He simply nodded and walked back around the room, seeing if anybody needed help, or needed to be cracked back into order.

As she returned to her assignment, there was the smallest of smiles riddled on her face for the rest of the day. In no time she'll be able to fully comprehend both Latcio and English! Grandma would be left in her dust!

* * *

The school day progressed slowly enough for the group to absolutely relish in their lunch hour. Thankfully they have third lunch on Black days, which means that they only have a half hour left of English Class.

Unfortunately, Nora and Ren were busy in the schools' restaurant, so generally they couldn't join their friends. The duo had responsibilities as managers of the place, which left the four others alone. For the School Store workers and the Restaurant workers, lunchtime was considered a second elective, or the school considered it the "Career Class", which was one that you took every day to prepare you for your career or education in that field. There was a Career Class for everything that was offered, from the Infirmary to the Wood Working, any elective had a chance.

You didn't have to be a senior to take the class, though it was recommended as Seniors generally had lighter workloads. That was why Yang had been holding off on her class, and Pyrrha… Well, Pyrrha never really gave it any thought. She had been working so hard in her athletics that, admittedly, she never sat and considered her career. Part of her wanted to do some teaching, part of her wanted to be an athlete, yet part of her wanted to follow her father's path in politics. He was an ambassador to Mystral, though he was now retired after a long career that he started early. He and his family settled down in Vale, where he had worked for his government. Ruby just held off anything that would increase her workload, though deep down wasn't sure what to do for her career…

Blake had options now, at least so she thought. With Beacon's Prep School ideology, she was free to study and prepare for her career in book writing, and if that failed then Journalism could never hurt, right? At least for a Kingdom like Vale where the news never slept.

The black themed teen looked around her table and noted who was there with her. It only seemed to be the same three girls from earlier: Ruby, Yang and Pyrrha. Though, according to Yang, there was another duo who should be there: Coco and Velvet. They had an online Astronomy class that they took, where they normally got the class off, giving them two whole hours of lunch. The way the online classes worked was you got the homework on the School's website and if you did the homework then you'd get that class off. If you had a missing assignment then you had to show up and couldn't leave until all of the work was finished. Thanks to Velvet, both of their assignments were always complete on time. Problem is today they actually had stuff to do in class. Generally they'd follow Ruby to her English class until they either got kicked out by the teacher or had to leave due to time constraints. The two never really messed with the group dynamic of Ruby's friends, mainly because they pretty much _made_ the group dynamic.

Still, it struck both Yang and Pyrrha as odd when it came to how protective the girls can be of their young friend. Whenever inquired about it, Ruby shot out that it was her age that made them worry. She herself knew that wasn't a complete lie, but it kept everyone off of her back.

The problem with the groups English class is that their teacher, who was pregnant, went into labor almost a week ago and would be taking the semester off on maternity leave. This left an open position that couldn't be filled by a part time slot, so Headmaster Ozpin decided let the school's Library workers to take over. For the gang, this gave them the young worker Tukson, a well built man with sharp black hair and an odd beard that he kept very well. Him being an English instructor as well as an owner of a bookstore made him perfect for the role. Really, it was just students writing and reading essays and mostly in-class discussions. It kept everyone occupied and worked well.

Yang audibly bit into her school-made chicken sandwich, "It's good today..." She commented aloud and messily. Pyrrha, who had already finished hers, nodded in agreement, ignoring the barbaric attitude of her friend. Across the table from the duo sat Ruby and Blake. The latter finally opening her bagged lunch, whilst the former took her time with her meal. "What's wrong, Blake? Didn't want to risk it?"

The black-haired girl shrugged, "I didn't know my options for lunch, so I bagged my own." Her reply was easy and quick as she unwrapped her tuna sandwich. "Never take a risk, right?"

Pyrrha looked to Ruby, "I thought you were going to tell her all she needed to know?" She said, playful attitude in her voice. Ruby broke eye contact with the older girl and deflated in her seat, whilst Yang jabbed her elbow into Pyrrha's side. Before the Mystralian could realize it, Blake was glaring at her, too.

"Guess I forgot that..." Ruby said quietly.

"It's okay Ruby..." Yang said, keeping her harsh glare on Pyrrha, "Someone just has an attitude problem today." Pyrrha folded her arms in a pouting manner and looked away. Yang shook her head and began to finish her meal. "Come on, eat." She insisted towards her younger counterpart, "We don't have that long before we gotta go back to class."

Ruby complied, but still chose to take her time. To Yang, it seemed that the girl was in better spirits when Coco and Velvet were around. Those two knew how to reach Ruby, something Yang has been meaning to inquire about for some time now. She was envious of how easy it was to get her to open up and the way Yang figured it, if she could read somebody like Ruby easily, then one day she could read her patients as such and get them to open up easier and faster which would make her life and career far easier.

As she finished her meal, Yang peered over to Pyrrha and Ruby. The former was finished long ago whilst the latter had just finally wrapped up. "May I?" She offered, picking up both of the girls' lunch trays. The two nodded as Yang walked to the trash can.

"I think I like her." Blake commented, not looking up from her meal. "She's nice."

"Told ya." Ruby retorted. Pyrrha watched as the two communicated with each other, amazed. They hadn't known each other for more than three days and already they seemed like they've been friends forever. Despite Ruby's normally silent nature, she _did_ seem to be comfortable around Blake. Why? What did they do over the weekend? More importantly, how did Blake get the teen to be so comfortable with her?

"Blake..." Pyrrha called, gaining her new friends attention, "I have a question for you?" Blake looked up and nodded, giving her the okay to begin. Her question was going to be why the duo before them were so close so quickly, but she internally kicked herself, not wanting to confront either about this yet. Maybe they don't even know, maybe this is just sheer luck… Maybe this was just them connecting easily, like real friends. So, she resigned herself to a fake question, now that she's this far in the hole, at least… "That bow on your head, where did you get it?"

"Yeah!" Yang called, returning from her trip, "I want to know, too!"

Blake chuckled as she scratched the top of her head. She had completely forgotten about her bow as the day had progressed, "I've had this thing for a while now... I can't remember where I got it..."

"Oh well fine!" Yang crossed her arms in mock anger, "I didn't want a cute bow to match my hair either!"

"Nope." Blake said with a smile, "My look and I'm not looking to share it."

Yang held a stunned look on her face as she let her arms down. It wasn't often that someone managed to do something like that to her; turn a joke around and point it at her. To say that the blonde was impressed was an understatement. "I like you, Blake." Yang chuckled, "Really, you've got spunk. It takes a lot to make a Xiao Long look like a fool."

Ruby leaned in close and loudly whispered, ' _No it doesn't…'_ Earning a sharp kick from Yang. "Ow!"

Blake, however, stoically nodded in thanks at the compliment, ignoring her neighbor's comment and resulting injury, once again recalling the earlier class and knowing already that this is how the duo acted, though it was more Yang acting that way and Ruby retaliating. Before anyone could speak further, the bell rang out and ended the lunch cycle, causing the group- as well as the rest of the room- to rise from their seats and began the exodus back to class.

Pyrrha led the way back to class, followed closely by Blake and Yang. Ruby was somewhere in the throng of people behind the group, though they knew she'd catch up. She always did. Sometimes it was easier not to keep track of her, because she could be either ten miles behind or a hundred miles ahead. That or she would take her own route, a bad habit that the silver-eyed teen herself said she had to break.

The trio managed to make it to the class, being one of the first in. The found their table, this one being smack in the middle of class rather than the back (can't win every time). Tukson was sitting at the desk, taking a sip from his mug and watching something off the computer. "Ladies." He said as they walked in, not looking up. All three bowed their heads towards the instructor and took a seat.

Instantly Blake was able to recognize the man. She had visited his bookstore on a few occasions in the past and had gotten to know him, even though they never really saw each other more than twice a month. Still, the two of them shared a nod, not opting to say another word. He tried his best not to promote his store, anyway. "How are you enjoying your time here, Miss Belladonna?"

The question was honest, albeit a bit random. Though it was best that now would be the best time to ask the question. "I think I like it..." She replied.

The bearded man nodded, "That's good to hear. You've managed to find your way into a very diverse set of individuals." He smiled at the group, "I hope you enjoy your time here."

"Thank you, sir."

As the group settled, Ruby managed to find her way back into class. The distinct lack of Velvet or Coco gave off a rather empty feeling. "Thanks for waiting for me back there, guys." She said annoyed. "Really means a lot."

"Oh boohoo," Yang waved her off, "You're a big girl, you can find your way back on your own."

The latter sighed as she sat back down, "That's not the point..." She said in a sing-song like manner, "But whatever."

"Ruby I'll give you extra credit if you can make me a song about how it's not the point." Tukson challenged more than offered, not looking up from his computer screen as Ruby stretched her arms over her head, interlocking her fingers for maximum stretch power. "It can't be less than two stanzas."

"No." She quickly declined, not falling for the trap despite Yang and Pyrrha's constant badgering. "I know what's going to happen. I'll make it, turn it in, then you'll make me sing it for full credit." The man snapped his fingers sarcastically, realizing that he had been found out. Tukson had an unorthodox way of teaching that worked, and something like that wasn't uncommon. Ruby would do it, though her voice was really only good in the shower. Still, that wouldn't stop Yang or Pyrrha from egging her on.

Ruby chose to ignore the two taller teens while more students began to file into the room as others began to make their way to lunch. As a student, one normally had less than five minutes to make it from the cafeteria to the classroom before being considered late. This gave time to go to the bathroom, or hit one of the many vending machines around the campus. Or putts with friends before splitting off again.

As another bell chimed, indicating that class is to begin, Tukson rose from his seat, raising his huge, tree trunk of an arm. "Alright, class, settle down." In four words, every single student stopped their conversation and all eyes pointed towards their instructor. Blake was in awe; this wasn't the first time that she had seen an act of power like this. Beacon's students must highly respect/feat their teachers if they're willing to stop talking so quickly. "We have a few more notes to take and then you could go on your merry way with whatever conversations you were just having. Now-!"

He turned away from the class and began where his lecture had left off before lunch began. Blake had already taken a sizable amount of notes prior to the break, so she wondered how many notes she would have left before being able to work on any assignments she had, or if she had taken too many notes. Needless to say Tukson wasn't as lenient of a teacher as he was a store owner, nor was he as lenient as some of the other teachers.

Not that it was really a big deal or anything, she just had to get in the habit of her teachers is all and how many notes would be considered too few and too many.

* * *

 **So HUGE thanks to my boy Karm for helping me find a way to include Tukson! In all honesty, his job was going to be Ozpin's, but thanks to a conversation with my friend here, we were able to work this in and it actually made this part of the chapter far better than I realized. And yes, he still has a book store in this story just as he did in the show, he just works for the school in his off time.**

 **Other than that, I kinda spent a really long time on just one part of the school day, huh? Don't worry, chapters like this won't be that often, where I only cover half or less of a day in class, unless that chapter was really important in some way. And yes, Velvet and Coco will become far more relevant than I've made them out to be. Next chapter actually covers that.**

 **So, now that all of that is out of the way, what did you all think? I gave a bit of the spotlight to Pyrrha today and I almost forgot that Jaune was absent. I did make up a language, too, and let me just say that 'Latcio' or the 'Lactian Language' as it will be called is susceptible to change in the future, but it's the old language of Mystral. The thought process was that if Pyrrha is supposed to be Greek, and the Greek's used Latin... Well, Latico is this world's Latin! I also gave a small look into Ruby's Drafting class as well as one of Yang's Health classes. We'll go into more depth of these classes per each character later on.**

 **Go ahead and tell me what you think about this and also what you'd like to see in the future.** **Stay safe out there everyone, and as always:**

 **Until Next Time**


	6. End of the First Day

**Who's ready for an info drop! Because that's exactly what you're getting here!**

 **A few people have been thinking and/or speculating as to what's what, and if your here for answers to those questions then you've come to the wrong place! I can't just wait six chapters before spilling my guts all over the floor, I've come a long way since Downed, you know. No, I'm gonna make you work for it!**

 **This is actually one of my favorite, just because it... Well, I'll tell you after the fact. I hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

The last class of the day for Blake was an Art class, with a rather tall and scrawny teacher, Mr. Torchwick. He had fire-red hair with his bangs hanging down to hide his right eye, a cane with a bowler hat sat behind his desk. Blake pondered if those were strictly for show, but according to her friends he actually used them.

What a strange man.

Luckily for her, she shared this class with her new friends Ruby, Nora and Ren. Though she had met the other two earlier, she never really had a chance to talk and get to know them as she had with Pyrrha and Yang, so this class was a good chance to officially meet them. It was the end of the day with less than twenty minutes left to go and every students' bags were packed and ready as they eagerly awaited the bell. They were all on the cusp of freedom. The last class had gone by in a flash, Torchwick leaving his students to do whatever they desired because _'Monday's sucked'_. He admitted he didn't have a plan and didn't really care that day, which was all that his students needed to hear.

Ruby sketched out Nora and Ren, per the Valkyrie girls request. Ren didn't care much to pressure his friend into something like that, but Ruby gladly agreed, giving herself something to do. In less than an hour she handed over her masterpiece, earning a very theatrical thanks from her friend. Blake noted just how different Nora and Ren were from each other; where she, the short redhead with an energetic personality would fire off and go nuts on the world, he, the taller boy with black, smooth and long hair with a purple streak in it was more calm and restrained. It was impossible to figure out just _how_ these polar opposites got along...

Ruby checked the clock, noting that she still had a half hour left until class ended and sighed heavily before excusing herself. Blake carefully watched as she walked out of the room and saw her chance...

"So..." The bow-wearing girl called, "What's up with her?" Her question was sincere, not meant to be taken offensively. Nora and Ren still shot her a quizzical look. "I mean... Something doesn't feel right, you know? It looks like she's on edge about something, but I don't know what..."

"I get what you're trying to say." Ren interrupted, "You notice that Ruby is different when compared to us. Not as boisterous or loud, per say." Blake nodded, thanking the stoic boy for his interruption. "Allow me to explain: We only met her last year when she was sent up two years to our grade . In that year, she's stayed very secluded. We all knew she was hiding something but she was so nervous and that much was evident enough, but none of us wanted to push. She seemed... What's the word?"

"Shy!" Nora cheered.

"Right, she seemed shy. She was obviously freaked out on her first few days here. But that was a year ago. She's still timid, but we've managed to make her open up a little."

Nora slumped as she rested her head on her arms, "Not enough, though..." She muttered dejectedly.

Ren nodded in agreement, "I understand that Yang is determined to change her, but she should be careful where she treads. If she pushes too much then she'll push Ruby away."

"But if she doesn't push enough then no progress will be made..." Blake finished for him, causing him to simply nod. "It's a real catch twenty-two, huh?"

Both of her new friends nodded in agreement. "And Pyrrha's no help either," His voice was honest and steady, "She doesn't seem to understand that some people are just quiet people. But she's too stubborn to let it go, why I don't know."

"Yes you do, Ren." Nora chastised, "It's because of me and Yang-"

"Yang and I."

"Whatever, Ren! The bottom line is Pyrrha is too used to people like Yang and I, loud, fun and crazy!"

"You? Crazy?" Blake quipped with a smile, "I don't believe it."

"Believe it, Missy. Anyway, she was hoping that Ruby would be just like Yang and I when Velvet introduced us to her, but wasn't sure what to make of this small, quiet thing."

"And if I recall, that's using her words exactly. I'm just letting you know," Ren began his closure, "She seems to have taken very kindly to you, which means that you might have a way of breaking this silent streak of hers."

"Are you asking me to help you all and Yang?"

"Yes." Nora easily answered, the most determined look on her face. "Any help would work... We just want her to be more confident in herself, she likes to bring herself down a lot... Any help is welcomed help!"

Blake considered her options as Nora and Ren both finished, all she could think was how these two were two halves of a brain. Nora was the artsy, imaginative half while Ren was the analytical half. All the while, knowing deep down what she had to do... She knew the issue, after all, and she knew _why_ and _where_ this started at, so maybe she could help more...

When Ruby walked back in, her tablemates had ceased their conversation and picked up a new, decoy talking point. They were used to quickly switching, the last they wanted was for Ruby to hear them talking about her. She intently listened to Nora and Ren argue about shifts for tonight and packed her bags, as did the others in the class, and prepared to leave. All Ruby wanted to do after a long day like today was go home, go see Neo. Maybe, if they could, spend some time with Velvet and Coco. Even ask Blake to join. What kind of neighbor would she be if she didn't invite her own classmate and neighbor along for some after school fun?

Blake, the new girl, the enigma, this black haired beauty that Ruby hadn't known for more than a few days already turned her whole world upside down. She was a nice girl who Ruby instantly connected with, someone who she could get along with very well with little trying. In fact, there was something about Blake that Ruby found to be very familiar, but couldn't place exactly how or why... She was sure that they never met... Right?

The sound of the bell brought her back from her stupor. All students poured into the hall and out the many exits of the school. "Come on, Ruby." Blake called, "We have a long way to go until we get to the parking lot."

"Oh yeah." Ruby muttered. She forgot that she came to school with Blake. She rubbed her arm as she approached, "Um, not that it's a big deal or anything, but can we make a stop before we go?" Blake looked at her quizzically, "I gotta go meet Velvet and Coco at the other side of the school. It won't take long, I promise! But you can still come with, if you want..."

Blake smiled as she gestured for the younger girl to stop before she got too flustered. "I'll tag along, that way whenever you're done we can leave together."

"Great! Like I said, it'll only take a minute!"

Blake lightly laughed, "Lead the way."

The young teen nodded as they exited, Torchwick giving his appreciation to his class for not causing a disruption for him. As Blake followed, all she could think was how this girl was sort of an enigma for her group. Her friends, despite how well they think they do, don't really know the red-clad girl. And yet she seemed to know almost everything about everyone she comes into contact with. She was truly an interesting person; one that Blake wanted to get to know. One thing that she often found herself wondering: What was Ruby's home life _really_ like? Clearly her friends didn't really know about any of it? Did she want them to know?

Was she hiding something?

All relevant questions... All answers to be sought another time. It wasn't that she wanted to know everything about her neighbor, it was that this girl- despite what Blake said earlier- _was_ familiar looking. Blake knew Ruby from somewhere... Deep down, she knew from where.

 _'But just how and when did she get_ here? _'_

The two approached the school's cafe, located just outside of Beacon's Restaurant where Ren and Nora work, providing both an extra area to eat as well as a place to socialize and was considered the original lounge. It had decorative brown and yellow tile floor with matching tabletops and benches. This is where Ruby normally met Velvet and Coco at the end of the day, and from here the two would drive Ruby home, then proceed to stay and 'annoy her' even though she enjoyed the company.

The floor transitioned from a laminated tile to a more intricately designed. thick tile flooring, indicating that they had indeed arrived at their destination. The lighting was also different, far more dimly lit from the normal light bulbs, rather than the florescent lighting that was used to light hallways and classrooms. Across the small space, Ruby found her friends, as they found her. She approached the two after a small wave, but a voice behind her called her attention.

"Hey, Rose!" A feminine voice heavily called, malice laced in its tone. Ruby turned, mild distress on her face as she knew who called her. A girl with a darker toned skin and emerald green hair approached, but behind her was a familiar short teen in high heels with snow-white hair trying to stop her but to no avail. "What in the world are you still doing here? Didn't you get Mercury's memo?" Ruby raised an eyebrow curiously, intent on seeing this out. As she did, Weiss shook her head and walked away, not wanting to do the same as Ruby. The silver eyed teen waved off help from Coco, who appeared to be ready to tear this new challenger in half. Blake also watched intently, but noted the smirk on Ruby's face... Was she enjoying this? Was this funny to her?

... Was she trapping Emerald?

"I'm saying why do you still go to this school? You're way too worthless to be here." A crowd had formed as the girl continued to berate, albeit poorly, the younger teen. "This school is for the best, the gifted and talented. Not people of your standards."

Ruby smiled as she contained her laughter. This girl, her poor attempt at harassment, proved Yang's point earlier. "Are you done?" She asked, "Because I won't shut you down if you're not done, yet. I mean, your backup already left you, so stopping now might be b-""

"Oh-ho-ho! Big talk from a small girl!"

"Well that was rude..." Ruby muttered under her breath, a smirk still plastered on her face.

"What are you going to do, cry to mommy? Is Yang going to come around and save her little friend?" Her tone was condescending to the max, a tone that one would use to taunt a child, "Or is Coco over there going to charge up and tear me in half for talking to you?"

"No, no." Ruby confirmed, "I think I can handle this." Her smile never wavered for a moment, though she and everyone else knew why. Goodwitch was standing right behind Emerald during this whole ordeal, but the instructor refused to intervene. Normally intervention was saved for after an event went physical. Besides, Glynda was interested to see how Ruby was going to handle this. Would she be more mature than Yang, who would probably have knocked this insolent teen's head through the ground? Or would she find her own way to handle it? The crowd around them tried to silently warn this challenger, to great failure.

"I'm done when I say I'm done, and I'll only be done when you and your pathetic friends _leave_... Or die, whichever works..."

Smile still plastered on her face, Ruby shook her head and scrunched her forehead playfully, "Wow, alright. I guess now's a better time. You think I'm not _worthy_ of being here? I worked my _ass off_ to get to where I am now and I'm proud of it. Sure I don't have all of the money that you or your family has, but I don't care for any of that. I'm happy as I am now." The crowd around her intently listened to her words as Emerald tried her best to maintain her composure, unsure of what to feel. This girl, this _broke, worthless_ girl who had no right to even embrace her, or her friends' graces, was giving her a lesson? In what? "I earned my place here. And what about you? You call me worthless and yet you got here because somebody paid your way for you? You don't even know the _value_ of hard work, do you?"

"You little-"

"Oh, excuse me. I didn't realize I struck a nerve, but I get a little offended when somebody belittles all of the _hard work_ that I did to get here! Now if you'll excuse me, I think Miss Goodwitch would like to have a word with you."

"Miss Goodwi-?" Emerald turned and met the eyes of the schools Health instructor as they pierced through her very soul. "Oh, um... Hi..."

"Miss Sustrai, must we have _another_ talk about harassing students in school?" She latched onto Emeralds wrist, "Miss Rose, I excuse you for your earlier comment and release you for the day." She smirked as she practically dragged Emerald out of the cafe. The crowd of students applauded, some in jest, others actually meant it before dispersing.

Regardless, Ruby did a curtsy and claimed "You just have to play the waiting game, then you don't have to do a thing!"

The crowd dispersed as the students exited. The few who remained waited for traffic to die. Coco, Velvet, Ruby and Blake were doing just that.

When Ruby turned to finally talk to her other friends, she found herself being wrapped up in a massive and familiar hug. "Coco!" She called, "Let me down!"

"I'm so proud of you!" The young woman yelled as she swung the junior around, pride laced in her voice. "You did so well!" Velvet pinched the bridge of her nose as she shook her head during the spectacle, even though she was just as proud. Ruby could be a smart-ass sometimes, but this time she schooled an Elite without using poor comedy. She spoke from the heart and actually sounded like she was sick of having her achievement be belittled, and it was about time for her to grow a backbone, too. Unfortunately now, it would appear that said spine vanished. It only took one cry from Ruby for the faunus to step in and literally pry the red-clad girl off. "Aw, no fun. So what's up?"

"Can I catch my breath, woman?" Ruby playfully chided as she hid behind the rabbit faunus, "Jeez, you just sent me around the world there. Let me have a minute." Coco (im)patiently gave her that minute, allowing the younger girl to do what she requested. "Alright, whew. So, I know you two normally take me home after school, but since I drove here with Blake and we're both going back to the same place, I figured you two shouldn't have to take me home again."

Velvet and Coco nodded as they knew what was going to happen, though they had to have some fun with it. "Wow, alright cool. Thanks, Blake!" Coco called with a smile, "You really saved me some gas!" She held a thumbs up as the new student caught the sarcastic tone in her voice, carefully eyeing the two senior students.

"Yeah," Velvet agreed, "We don't have to worry about her anymore. Let's go home."

"Wait, you'll still come over, right?"

Coco rolled her eyes and shrugged, "I don't know, If we can't take you home now then what's the point?" Ruby's shoulder slumped as her older friend continued to walk on, picking up her backpack from a nearby table, "Besides, you'll probably be working tonight and I don't want to get in the way of that."

"What?"

"You said it yourself, Ruby." Velvet easily chimed.

"You know that's not what I meant."

"Then why did you say it?"

Ruby stopped dead in her tracks as the two seniors walked on ahead towards the door, finally realizing that she was being had. Silver eyes rolled, now it was her turn to shake her head and turn around to walk away. "Alright, bye." She waved behind her back, "No skin off my nose!"

Blake had been following the discussion, but was confused. Wasn't the whole point of this to get the duo to come over anyway? Then, before she could inquire anything, she saw the young teen wink, realizing that she was now playing the players. 'Crafty little girl...' The black themed teen thought.

Ruby walked on, slowly, waiting to hear footsteps behind her. It didn't take long before she felt a fist slug her arm, but as she was expecting it, she was able to jump away and avoid a majority of the impact. "We're still coming over. Just won't be until later." The fashionista declared, equipping a pair of sunglasses. Ruby gave a thumbs up in agreement, they hugged goodbye and departed. This time, however, Ruby had Blake lead the way out of the school to show what she had learned that day.

It took a lot longer than she had hoped, but they still made their way outside within the hour...

* * *

The drive home was very quick. As it turned out waiting for traffic to die down was the best strategy as Blake had little resistance exiting the parking lot, which is something she would keep that in mind for later. After driving the long way home, Ruby reluctantly told Blake that they'd meet later that night, inviting her neighbor over with Velvet and Coco. Blake happily agreed, putting her car in park.

She walked into the complex through the front, though her passenger split off, mentioning that she had to check in with Junior and Neo to work for a few hours. As the silver eyed teen walked through the back alley and towards the door, all she could think about was how the night would go. It was an odd day already, not being taken home by Coco and Velvet, and she also kept forgetting that Blake didn't actually know about her... Living situation, but she knew Velvet and Coco would help her out. They had to, right?

She paused just before she walked in the back door, glancing down both sides of the alley. For some reason she felt a presence of someone or something watching, but just a glance offered her solace that nobody was there. Damn imagination running wild. She twisted the doorknob downward and pulled the big, grey door open, the heavy material offering as much resistance as possible, but thanks to Yang and Pyrrha constantly pushing her she was able to open it with ease. Once Ruby was in the room, she quickly closed and locked the back door and turned towards the front counter, finding papers littered across the desk. Curiously examining the room, she noted how everything was so... Messy... Neither Neo nor Junior would stand for this, so what happened?

 _'Oh no!'_ Ruby gasped, fearing the worst. This much of a mess meant only one thing that brought a feeling of dread over her, and once she approached the door to Neo and Junior's apartment she could faintly hear yelling... Her fears had been confirmed, causing her muscles to stiffen and her eyes to close over the sheer malice in both of their voices. Familiar adult voices raised to beyond the capacity of the four walls cause the young teen gulped as she slowly opened the door, only to quickly be berated by a deep voice.

"Oh don't you _dare_ yell at her, damnit!" Neo yelled, "She has nothing to do with this!"

"Bull. Fucking. _Shit_. This whole thing is about _her!_ Stop lying to yourself and to her, you're not helping anyone, you're hurting all of us!"

"What's going on?"

"How am I hurting us? We're making more money than we know what to do with! Where's the problem? How are we hurt?"

"Money isn't the issue, it's-"

"If money isn't the problem, then maybe it's just _you_!"

"Guys?"

"Don't you _dare_ talk to me like that, damnit!"

"Or what?!"

Finally, both combatants paused, either to think this out or to catch their breaths. Regardless of their reasoning, Ruby only saw one thing to stopping this...

"Mom, Dad, please stop fighting..."

Junior shook his head in annoyance as he walked out of the apartment, "Oh shut the _hell_ up, girl. I'm going to work!"

Before he closed the door, Neo gave him one more piece of her mind, "Oh yeah, go do absolutely _nothing_ while I fix this whole _God damned building!"_ The door shut with a resounding slam, rattling the apartment and caused Neo to finally break down.

The Dichromatic haired woman slammed her fists into the kitchen table in rage and sadness and confusion while Ruby ran to comfort her, to no avail. "Neo, please..." Ruby soothed, "Have a seat... Talk to me about it..."

"There's nothing to talk about, hun..." The woman said through her tears and short, raspy breaths, "I don't want you to get involved with this..." Still, she allowed herself to be seated at the table since Ruby pulled up a chair for her. "This doesn't involve you."

"It does now..." Red-streaked bangs hung in front of her face as Ruby shook her head, maneuvering around behind Neo. The woman tried to keep her tenant within eyeshot, but Ruby was too good for her. Neo felt two soft hands firmly plant on her shoulders as Ruby began to slowly apply pressure for a message, rubbing the seated woman's shoulders slowly and carefully, trying her best to relax the adult.

In almost an instant, all of Neo's concerns died under the circular pressure. Despite what anyone said, Ruby had absolutely _magical_ hands, and the woman known that since day one...

* * *

 _Neo sat down at the table, papers sprawled about. She rubbed her temples fervently in an attempt to understand what was happening right now._

 _Before her lied papers of many origins. One was a plan to purchase necessities for the Maintenance crews, the other was multiple bank statements giving Neo the budget she had to work with. Somewhere along the lines someone misplaced a few zeroes and Neo didn't have enough money to buy what they needed._

 _What was weird was that everyone paid rent on time, and even those who didn't weren't a great enough amount to cause a deficit... Something was up._

 _"Miss Neo...?" A young voice called from the couch in the other room, "Is everything alright?"_

 _The multi-color haired woman sighed as she sat back, "Nah, it's just all these funds don't add up..." She shook her head as she blankly stared at the papers before her, "I don't know what happened..."_

 _She blankly thought about where someone or something could have gone wrong, when a new force attached itself to her shoulders. Without warning, this same force began to apply pressure and rub in a circular motion._

 _And it was_ majestic _._

 _"Ruby..." Neo called, her voice mildly strained, "What are you-?"_

 _"You seem stressed..." Was all the woman heard. When the force stopped, all Neo could think was '_ please do that again...' _But she wasn't about to ask for it. Ruby took a seat next to her and began to examine the papers. "So... Where's the problem? And don't tell me not to get involved because I'm involved."_

 _Neo gave her a chiding look, "Damnit, Ruby, you've been here for less than two weeks, take it easy for once."_

 _"I'll take it easy when I die." The young teen happily replied, "Now what's up?"_

 _"Budget issue. I need to buy a few things and I can't find the money..."_

 _Ruby began to examine the buildings bank statements, eventually finding an issue. "Neo... You have four building accounts, right?" Neo nodded, "And you allocate funds accordingly... You didn't put enough money down into the right account. Whoever put the money in the bank put the funds in the wrong account somewhere... I just don't know where... I guess it doesn't matter."_

 _Neo almost ripped the paper out of the teens hand and saw exactly what Ruby was talking about. "Uhg..." She sighed, "The_ one _time Junior does the bank thing is the_ one _time it gets messed up..." She turned to her newfound friend and stood up, "Thanks... Sorry you got pulled into that..."_

 _Ruby also rose from her seat and shook her head, "It was nothing. I thought there was just this big money loss thing. I did notice that, despite the amount of money you would normally have, you still would be too low after buying everything. I think you may be buying too many things at once, or just multiples of one item, so watch for that."_

 _Once again, Neo examined the list. "I'll be damned..." She whispered. Ruby was right, Neo was buying multiples of only one thing that they needed... She turned back and watched as the child walked back to the couch, "Hey, Ruby..." She called, "How would you... How are you so good at math?"_

 _The teen shrugged, not knowing how to answer, "It's just... Really easy to me, is all... I've always been good at it."_

 _"How would you like to help me run the Maintenance crew?" The question was genuine and honest, which actually surprised the silver-eyed teen. Most of the time, in Ruby's experience, people wouldn't be so serious about that, but this woman... Did she have_ that _much trust in her...? "I'll work everything out with Junior and maybe we can work something out; do a deal soon so you can get off of our couch and into a room, if you help enough?"_

 _Ruby didn't have to think about this, she knew what it meant and it was the best long-term play she could make. Another bonus was that she would finally stop mooching off of the complex owners. It was an easy decision. "I'd love to."_

 _"Great, we'll start tomorrow!" With that, Neo left the room, leaving Ruby to herself, the couch which she had been sleeping on since she arrived at the building, and the TV that Junior and Neo were gracious enough to let her use._

 _"Alright Thank you!"_

Her hands, that same massage... Her _god damn skills with her hands_ , made all of Neo's troubles disappear. Ruby knew how to make people relax, be it her charm or her skills of persuasion, both Neo and Junior underestimated the young girl constantly.

Neo rose from her seat and quickly snatched Ruby up in a hug, burying her face into the young girls' shoulder. Somewhere down the line, Ruby grew to be barely taller than her... And at some point Neo knew she'd have to kick her tenants ass for it. "Thanks, hun..." Neo whispered, "You're the best."

"I try." The red-haired girl cheerily replied as she reciprocated, despite her body tone being more solemn. "What do you need me to do, now?"

Neo shook her head with a soft smile, "Nothing, absolutely nothing. You've done enough for me already. Besides, the crew did everything earlier, I did all of the banking and stuff already, so just... Go home and do whatever homework you have, alright?"

Reluctantly, the teen complied. She didn't want to leave but her friend's words persuaded her otherwise. It took a few minutes but Neo finally convinced her that she was fine and pushed Ruby out the door, locking it behind her.

Ruby, still confused and concerned, left with more questions rather than answers. She picked up her backpack, which she discarded at the door before jumping into the earlier frey, and began to walk up the stairs to her floor.

When she made it, she saw some of her neighbors talking. One such was Miss O'Riley, an older lady who lived two doors down from Ruby. "Ah, there she is!" The older woman responded, "We've been waiting for you!"

"Me? Why?"

One of her other neighbors, a slightly balding, slightly graying business man who went by the name of Luto spoke up, "Junior came by earlier. We don't know why, but he was examining your door and looked angry. He asked us about you, our opinions and such. Again, we don't know why, but we're concerned."

"He's saying a lot of bad things about you, honey," Miss O'Riley said, lightly putting her hand on Ruby's right shoulder her free arm staying firmly on her cane, "He might try to pull some shenanigans soon. If he does, he'll hear it from us, but be warned. He might work his way around us to get to you..."

Ruby chuckled as she shook her head, "Thanks... Both of you... But I'm fine. I've got Neo still. A-and even if that doesn't end well, he still won't be able to take me that easily. What he doesn't realize is that I'm ready to fight him over this just as much as both of you."

"Try all." Luto said with determination, "The whole floor is behind you. You've got way too much going for you to be thrown out just yet."

A tear came to her eyes as Ruby nodded in thanks. She departed from the group and walked into her apartment. When she closed her door, all she could do was drop her bags and slide down the wooden entrance. She stared into her kitchen blankly, then to her ceiling. All the while unable to think.

Her first words came after ten long minutes: "What in the world is happening, today?"

* * *

Schoolwork was sprawled about on the counter as she finished her dinner. One of the boxes of Mac and Cheese lay next to the stove as the pot lay in the sink. Ruby sighed as she patiently waited.

Her whole day had been quite eventful. First off was Blake's first day of classes. She liked to think that her neighbor got off to a very good start with Yang, Pyrrha and Nora, as well as some of the teachers. Also, Ruby was sure that her neighbor had been well acquainted with the school's layout, if not then all Ruby had to do was give it a week, Blake will get the hang of it. Now it was just getting Coco and Velvet to accept her, which was a task equitable to world peace levels of impossible. But Ruby was still willing to try.

Velvet already seemed open to the idea, but Coco was a bit more protective than that. Sometimes Ruby wondered who was worse in that department; Coco or Yang.

Second was the whole debacle with Mercury and the 'Elites', especially Emerald's gutsy confrontation at the end of school, which made her wonder why Emerald of all people in that group decided to do what she did? Did Merc finally convince her to fully turn towards the dark side? And what was with Weiss? She wasn't one to just abandon someone in her group like that, maybe Emerald crossed a line? Perhaps Weiss was trying to stop the altercation before it began, which would fit her usual non-interventionist M.O. and chose to abandon a lost cause. Either way, Ruby's actions might ultimately come back to bite the other students of Beacon, not just her friends. She could only hope she and the others could control Yang for a time so as there wouldn't be a murder at school.

The third, and biggest issue, that plagued the young teens mind for the past few hours was the issue with Junior and Neo. The couple had been fighting more and more recently, growing from small arguments to all out verbal brawls. Junior appeared to be getting more and more daring, as well, scaring Ruby. Him being as... Well, as huge as he is, meant that if he were to impose his will upon somebody, in this case Ruby seemed to be his intended target, there wouldn't be much to stop him, and the young teen had witnessed firsthand this man's capabilities. He was not to be trifled with.

She filled the bowl with water and began cleaning her few dishes, peering over towards the clock on the stove, which read 'Six-Ten'. Ruby knew it was only a matter of time before the 'Wonder Twins' arrived, giggling at Yang's proclaimed nickname for Coco and Velvet. It fit more than anything else anyone could think of.

As she finished with the small bowl, she set it aside and moved to clean the freshly used pot as a knock alerted her towards the door, stopping her from her chore. "Oh, uh, coming!" She called, "Just a sec!" She left the sponge where it was and turned the water off, just in case she would be a few minutes, quickly drying her hands on a nearby towel. Worrying for a moment that it was one of her neighbors coming to talk to her again, she mentally readied herself for a good old fashioned deviation tactic. What she got when she opened the door was far less than expected.

Standing in front of the door was a familiar Dichromatic eyed woman staring softly at her door. "Hey..." Neo greeted calmly, "How are you doing?"

Despite being caught off guard by her friend/landlord's surprise visit, "U-uh, hey Neo!" She swiftly greeted back, "Come on in! I'm just finishing din-"

A lone right hand was raised by the shorter woman as she smiled. "No, no." Her voice was truly defeated and low which broke Ruby's heart, "I'm not here for any of that. I just wanted to see how you were doing after... That thing earlier..." She blushed a little in clear embarrassment after quietly continuing on, "I understand if you're feeling anything negative towards us and I'm going to do the best that I can to make things better, but know that sometimes I can't control Junior... He may come up and do some weird or stupid stuff or say something. Just please, He doesn't mean it and I know I shouldn't have to ask this of you, but it's come to that point: Bare with us until he and I can work this out." Ruby nodded as the woman explained further, making many promises she knew deep down she couldn't keep, "Once we find a way out of this rough patch, everything should smooth out for everyone, including you."

Once again, Ruby nodded. "I understand." Neo smiled lightly as she turned to walk away, doing what she had to do in her mind she figured that she shouldn't keep Ruby busy anymore. "W-wait! Do you... You know? Wanna stay for a while? I'm sure the others won't mind you hanging around..."

Solemnly, Neo shook her head while tucking her hands into her pants pockets. "No, but thank you. I have to work some things out with my... _ahem_ , Husband." She walked away without another word, leaving Ruby behind in mild disappointment. Today had been such an odd day and only proceeded to get worse. As the woman lumbered towards the elevator down the hall, she noticed two figures walk out of the shaft as a ding announced the arrival of her ride, the two young woman who had been riding up and exited the elevator gave a small wave to the smaller woman. Instantly Ruby recognized the bunny ears of the first one and the beret on top of the second one.

 **-** "Well it's about time!" Ruby joked as the duo waltzed down the hall, "I was starting to think you two were going to stand me up!"

Coco chuckled, "Us do that to you? Nah. Miss Bunny here took too long getting ready."

"I was eating dinner when you pushed me out the door!"

"I told you to eat it in the car-"

"Hey!" Ruby clapped, "Not that I don't love seeing you two fight like an old married couple, but can we do this inside my apartment so my neighbors don't get upset?" Both older teens agreed with a nod, not able to make eye contact with their hostess after their chastising and entered the abode. "Get comfy, I'm gonna go fetch Blake. Please play nice while I'm gone?"

Velvet looked to Coco who shook her head as Ruby finally left, "If I mess something up in her place I'm a dead woman, and I'd like to see myself graduate thank you very much."

Velvet smirked as she carefully walked around the apartment, examining everything she could with a careful eye. "That's probably the best course of action you've taken all month. I'm proud of you."

Coco stuck her tongue out playfully as she approached the counter in the kitchen, "Geez, look at all of this." She examined the piles of organized mess, "She's got papers here dating back to the start of the year... She looking for notes? How in the hell does she find anything?"

"She doesn't mess up her system, unlike what you're doing now." Velvet teased, "Honestly, you should leave all of that where it is. She probably wasn't expecting us just yet and might need those for later."

Her sister obliged and left everything where it was before going to sit at the table in the next room where Velvet had also just sat down, the former leaning back in her chair. She looked around the apartment and examined the familiar space. Both Velvet and Coco took Ruby home almost all the time, especially in the colder months, and would stay at her apartment generally late into the night.

Coco anxiously sat in her chair as her adopted sibling waited patiently, the former decided that she should check out Ruby's bedroom, when the front door opened and two figures emerged. The senior immediately sat back down in her spot as Blake was first to walk in, followed by the apartment owner. "Well, well, well!" She teased, "About time you came back! Don't you know it's rude to leave your guests like that?"

Despite the look Velvet was currently giving her, Ruby still managed to shoot back in retaliation, "Wait, who are the guests, here? You two practically live here! I should start charging you both for rent!"

The fashionista threw her beret onto the table and clapped, "Welp, we're never coming back!"

"Speak for yourself." Velvet chuckled, followed immediately by a running start-smiling hug from Ruby. "Blake, always a pleasure. Even though we just met less than twelve hours ago." The new tenant playfully curtsied as she walked towards the table, planting down a few of her books that she had brought. Both seniors figured that this was homework and their underclass counterparts were probably going to work on it together. "Uh, Rubes..." Velvet pointed at the messy countertop in yonder kitchen, causing the owner of said mess to blush.

"Sorry, I uh... Lost something..." Ruby excused, quickly doing away with the stack of papers. "Notes are hard to find when you don't put them in the right spot..."

Again, Coco clapped, "And that's why I don't do notes."

"She's right. She uses mine."

"Hey! That's the trade off! I provide the home while you provide the school!"

Clearly finding annoyance with Coco's words, the rabbit faunus stopped and turned around. Ruby, anticipating the oncoming storm, moved out of the way, but was still in a position to break up their inevitable play fight. "Alright, first off," she harshly began, "Mom and Dad provide the home. _You and I_ partake. Secondly, that was a _bullshit_ comment because you obviously _don't_ look at my notes anyway."

Ruby and Blake watched the display, unsure of which side to pick. The former knew what was going to come from this, though her neighbor was interested to see the outcome of whatever confrontation this was: Play or serious. Very quickly, however, she found her answer as the accented young woman turned to her with a calm and collected expression, "See what I have to deal with?" The bow-wearing teen shrugged, seeing but her face held an expression that said she not understanding just what was going on. Velvet however was able to notice this and wanted to explain, "I was adopted by Coco's family when I was little. Her parents felt that their daughter needed a playmate to keep her out of trouble but they couldn't slow down to have another baby, so they came and got me."

"What can I say?" The young woman replied with a shrug, sitting back in her chair while holding on to one signature pair of sunglasses, "I was a lonely kid..."

A small, meek voice rose shortly after a burst of silence, "We all were..." The voice belonged to none other than the apartments owner, earning her a stare from both of the senior students beside her while Blake held her head low, internally recoiling from how disappointed her neighbor sounded. Ruby, however, shrugged off the looks and went back towards the kitchen, specifically the sink. "Let me clean up from dinner and I'll be right over."

Velvet waved the suggestion off and sat at the tall table, "Oh, forget it. Dishes can wait until company leaves. Besides, it's not like it's a feast or something."

"Well maybe I'd just like to do it and get it out of the way, otherwise I'll never get it done." All of the guests smiled, the fashionista chuckling as a hint of attitude came from their hostess.

"Wow, the gem is sharp tonight."

"Are you kidding?" Blake added, "Did you hear what she said earlier? She's been as sharp as a blade all day!" Silver eyes rolled as Ruby shrugged it off, knowing that this would be a talking point tonight, and regretting every minute of it.

After a short time of small talk and jokes, Ruby finally finished her chore. As she worked, all of her guests had a very quiet conversation about her earlier comment, though the faunus of the group waved both of the teens off and said that she'll talk to Ruby about it later. This wasn't the first time that the red-themed teen had made such a comment and it won't be the last, but it had been less frequent which was the main point.

Admittedly, the aforementioned teen was still hungry, her meal not all too filling for a growing body, but there wasn't much she could really do about it. She only had so much in her home at one time, and she would never stand for Coco or Velvet to buy her any more meals. She would work to earn it through Neo and Junior.

The time that Coco and Velvet would spend at Ruby's place were mainly to make sure that she was safe at the apartment while making sure that she had been eating right. Her diet was worrying, just based on how little she ate at school, so their job was to help her eat more. It was working in a way, to say the least, but this wasn't their only duty. They also sought to tutor her with any schoolwork that she had. Though now, with the arrival of Blake, the second half may no longer be relevant, thankfully.

The group had worked in relative silence, only speaking when a question needed to be asked. Ruby hated such silence in her apartment but didn't know what to say or do to alleviate it without alienating her new neighbor. However, her oldest friend knew just what to do five minutes into the work session. "So, Blake." Velvet called, placing her pencil down from her science work. Amber eyes blinked as the new girl peered up towards the faunus, "Tell me something about yourself?"

"Don't interrogate her, Vel..."

"Now, now, Buoy." Coco admonished, using one of many of her pet names for her hostess, "It's her or me." Ruby sighed and rolled her eyes at her irony of the nickname she had, keeping to her own work, but her attention was all towards the discussion at hand...

"Well..." Blake began, "What do you want to know?"

The accented faunus shrugged lightly, never taking her gaze off of the other guest, "You know, the basics! Where you're from, how long you're going to be here...?"

"What you plan on doing with Ruby?"

"COCO!" The aforementioned teen cried, pounding her fist into the table.

"What? I'm genuinely curious!"

Blake drowned out the argument between the two and kept her attention towards Velvet. "Well, I can say I don't have any plans with her-" She pointed towards Ruby, "But I'm sure we'd hang out a few times, considering we're neighbors and, to be honest, I think we're pretty good friends now."

"Never you mind them." Velvet called through the increasing volume, "Coco's just paranoid and ultra defensive, you'll warm up to her, though!"

Blake nodded and continued answering the questions, "I don't know how long I'll be here, but I kinda hope it's for a while. I come from the east side of the country and I actually like it here."

Coco began to chuckle, now ending her unwinnable argument, and shook her head, "You won't be saying that in the winter. You think you east sider's get it? Ha! Us coastal's get nailed by the snow!"

"It's not as bad as she makes it out to be, Blake. Don't worry."

"Ruby, you don't have to drive in it!"

"No, I have to walk in it sometimes! So I think I know just how bad it can be!"

"Holy shit, Coco, you're getting destroyed." Velvet quipped, only to have her adoptive sister pointer a lone index finger into her face. "And thank you for answering those questions Blake."

The clock struck eight as all four girls returned to their schoolwork even though they really didn't have much. Coco began packing up her supplies and looked to Ruby, "Have they stocked the vending machines, yet?" The questioned slowly nodded, knowing full well they did that every three days at six in the morning on every floor, and she found it odd that Coco, the one person who would watch what she ate for _'her form'_ would inquire about that? "Come on then! Take me there!" Without warning Coco began to drag the young teen away by the hood of her famous red jacket.

The fashionista known as Coco Adel quickly closed the door to the apartment, leaving Blake and Velvet alone and accomplishing her job. Amber eyes looked up after feeling Velvet's glare throughout the entirety of Ruby's absence. The bow-wearing girl chuckled lightly, immediately knowing what was going on, "Wow, did you two come up with that one your own?"

The rabbit faunus shrugged, "I think we learned a lot of it from TV." Once again, she began staring at Blake, her normal look now replaced with a more serious expression. "East side of the country, huh?"

"Uh... Yeah..."

"Good cover, but for not."

Amber eyes glared as Blake squinted at the young woman in the seat across from her, "What are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb with me." The black-haired girl physically tensed up at her adversaries tone of voice, "Ruby may not be able to remember right off the bat, but I do. You were there, at the foster home on Patch long before either Ruby or I got there. And now you're here..."

Closing her eyes, Blake sighed knowing that her cover had been blown. "Yes... I was there... I remember you, too... How easy was it?"

"Eh," The accented young woman shrugged, "Easy enough. You know how it works, people have the same scent to them no matter what."

"Y-yeah... That wasn't how I was able to figure you out, though... Was that how you had to for me?"

"Yes, that bow is good cover."

"Thank you."

"Have you told Ruby, yet?"

Blake shook her head, "No... I don't even know if she'll remember me..."

Velvet chuckled as she sat back in her seat. Soon, her chuckled turned into full-out laughter. Blake glared at her suspiciously as the faunus composed herself, "Believe me, Blake, she'll remember. She remembered me after, oh, four years. Trust me, if you approach her looking like what you did back then, you'll be fine..." As Blake let the words sink in, Velvet began to examine the bow on top of her familiar friends head. "Seriously, what's with that?"

Instantly, Blake knew what the young adult was referring to and touched the bow on top of her head. "It's... A long story... And, if I can help it, I'd rather nobody know... If you couldn't recognize me right off the bat because of it then it's doing its job."

"Alright, Blake, I hear ya. We all have our secrets."

"Clearly." The black haired teen turned back towards the door, her bow twitching as she strained to hear anything on the other side, but found nothing. "Including her, huh?"

"Now _that's_ a long story."

"I believe it."

"Listen, Blake, I know what you are, and sooner or later, she'll know, too. You can't hide forever and she's a lot brighter than we give her credit for... You know that just as much as I do."

"I don't intend on hiding forever, Velvet." Blake replied, cryptically, her eyes closing to accompany her deep, defeated sigh, "I only intend on hiding until I'm ready, and when I know she's ready, too..."

* * *

Eventually, Ruby would break free of her captor's hold and made it back to her apartment. When she did, she would find Velvet packed and ready to go, her backpack around her right shoulder single strap, far earlier than expected. Despite her disappointment, the silver eyed teen said her goodbyes to her friends and they would depart, leaving her and Blake alone.

"So..." The red-streaked brunette awkwardly said, "Would you like to stay a while longer? Get to know each other a bit more?"

The black haired teen thought about the offer for a moment, noting a rather early time to go with it. However, since her talk with Velvet, her mind was... Elsewhere. As much as she despised the notion of leaving so soon, Blake figured that she could probably find an easy excuse with a school night to leave and do some thinking.

"I'm sorry." She inevitably shook her head, causing the shorter teen's shoulders to slump, "I'm kinda tired. Gotta get some rest before school tomorrow, right?"

Ruby respected the decision and nodded in agreement, "I understand. I'll show you out." She led the way after Blake picked up her backpack, walking out the door with her guest and into the hall. "Did you have fun tonight?" Ruby inquired, her door kept open as the duo faced each other. "I know Velvet and Coco aren't the best in the world to deal with, but..."

"No, it's okay." The bow-wearing teen admonished, "They're just looking out for you. I can understand the sentiment." Silver eyes blinked as Blake continued, "Besides, I did have fun tonight. I also got a lot of my work done. Now I'm excited to see my classes tomorrow."

Ruby chuckled lightly, "Hold on to that excitement, because it goes away awfully fast."

 _'You'd know more than anyone, huh?'_ \- "I'll keep that in mind." She offered a smile, despite her thoughts. It was at this point where they said their goodbyes and walked back into their respective apartments. As Ruby's door closed, Blake realized one fatal error: She meant to inquire about her neighbor's parents face to face. Kicking herself internally, the black haired teen figured that there was nothing she could do now, and retired to her apartment, where the resounding and familiar sound of a closing door caused her to sigh heavily. _'And Ruby thinks she's had a weird day?'_

* * *

 **Well... This one was all over the place, wasn't it? So, let me tell you why it's my favorite: I gives you a quick look into Ruby's home life past the weekend. Usually how it works is she works with Neo all weekend, or until she's no longer needed. But this one explained more of the week... Well, it's going to be abnormal, but I'll show you what happens in an average day after school.**

 **Other than that, it's also my favorite because it throws off the perception I made of Ruby early on. Clearly, she's not to be trifled with after Emerald's encounter, right? Well, there's a few people to thank for that. We'll see more encounters of the Elite kind in the future, don't worry.**

 **Next chapter is going to set up a long day at school, starting with some Gym time. Next chapter is also looking like either a 12k+ chapter buster, or a 2-parter. Still not sure about that.**

 **So what did you all think of this one? Answer any questions? Raise any more? Make you wonder just where the hell I'm going with this? Don't worry, I know what I'm doing... How I'm gonna steer this ship on the other hand is still up in the air. That being said, tell me what you think and give me an idea of what you'd like to see, or some thoughts on what the future of this story is! I want to hear your opinions!**

 **Next chapter is in the works and will be up as soon as possible, it'll be a game time decision on whether or not it's a two parter. So, I'll leave you all to work on whatever's next on my list.**

 **Until Next Time.**


	7. Sports!

**I don't know why... But I really had a hard time with posting this. No matter how many times I go over it, it just seems... Like it isn't my best work. Oh well, if you all don't like it you'll tell me.**

 **This chapter is kinda long and is more of a perspective from Blake's end, at least that's how it starts. We see some of the things she's observed and what she thinks about them, and we'll also see her take a stand. I purposefully avoided some of the morning routines and skipped over a few things to cut down the chapter and I don't think it's so bad, actually I still think it's a little too cluttered. The next 2 chapters after this are going to be rather long, easily +10k words for both, but they'll be far better to read, I promise!**

 **That being said, I'll shut up and let you read this and decide for yourself just how bad it is. Enjoy!**

* * *

A light rumble of thunder shook amber eyes open as the rain outside continued to fall. It was a storm that would not stop soon, having been predicted to last well into tonight... Or, tomorrow? Just what time was it? Blake flipped over in her bed and picked up her scroll, tapping the screen and lighting up to see a 'four-fifty-nine' flashing before her. She could get another hour of sleep... But also, if she went back to sleep now, she'd never get up later...

What was she to do? The rain began to clatter against her window at a raised intensity from earlier, indicating that for once, the weather people on the news were right. Today was going to be a rainy, stormy, gloomy... What other adjective was there? Oh well, overall it was going to be depressing. Rain always was, for some reason. As she continued to recall the

 _'Wait!'_ Blake screamed at herself, _'Bad brain! Don't distract me with this!'_ Her amber eyes flew open, quickly adjusting to the darkness around her, save for the kitchen light which shone through the open door. A lone, distant light wouldn't be much to bother her, though. No, it would take much more that that... Like rain... And thunder... Actually, running water in general is something that could-

 _'Damnit, Brain! Shut up!'_ She cursed herself mentally, jumping into a sitting position to avoid going back to sleep. The last thing she needed was to be slumbering when Ruby called for school. Not only did she now have a responsibility to school, but she also had a responsibility to get a certain neighbor girl to the same school. Oi, the things she'll do to be a friend.

Actually, she was more than that, wasn't she? Ruby didn't realize it yet, but that was alright to Blake. The black-haired teen inevitably sighed and climbed out of bed, the cool air striking at her body, now clear of the blankets she had, made her physically stiffen up. It wasn't too bad in her apartment, but the cooler night meant that she could have her air conditioning off. It was her hopes that it would be cozier than it was, not low sixties...

Oh well, she dealt with it by simply walking into the bathroom that was practically conjoined to her room, closing the door and flipping the light on, cursing herself for her stupidity. Of course the bathroom lights would be too bright, she just woke up for crying out loud! Maybe she's gotten out of habit, too soft for her own good...

Or, maybe she's thinking too far into this and is just cozy in her new apartment. She stripped down before turning on the shower, allowing the water to heat up while allowing her mind to wander to her aforementioned neighbor of her new apartment, Ruby, as well as Ruby's... Eccentric friends. Mainly, Yang and Pyrrha. Though Nora and Ren were a good team and a better couple (despite Nora's own words), they were pretty basic to the group dynamic. The first two, however...

If Ruby was anything now she like was as a kid back then, then it was safe to assume that she was still shy and quiet, even though she fought off Emerald it was obvious that she was holding back for good reason and her friends knew it. It made sense that her friends wanted her to be more open, but why was Ruby so stubborn? Has something happened in the years since Blake's departure?

Which brought her back to Yang and Pyrrha. Given what she's seen so far, it's safe to assume that Yang was a tough-love, yet truly caring person who wanted to best for her friends. Water began to rush over Blake as she closed the curtain, recalling lunch from the day before, how she kept pushing the red-themed teen next door to finish eating. Not only the tone of voice, but the words were all sincere, even when the blonde defended Ruby against Pyrrha for not telling Blake about the lunch, which wouldn't have mattered anyway. Despite how appetizing the food looked, it was still severely small portions... Perhaps that was why Yang said what she said, so that Ruby could get as much as she could in for nutrients... Curious one, this Yang Xiao Long...

Also, Blake began to recall the way Yang and Pyrrha both pushed Ruby to accept Tukson's challenge in class, not doing so in a chastising manner nor a rude manner, but trying hard to get her to open up, despite the degradation of making and singing a song in front of class... Who wants everyone to hear a potentially poor singing voice, after all?

Shampoo flooded down her still tired body as Blake began to ponder the last girl, the athlete so famous that her competitions were even noted and betted on... Where she once was, Pyrrha Nikos. So strong in her competitions, so confident and understanding, yet for some reason couldn't seem to get over the fact that her own friend was as closed off as she was. What was her problem? Was it just something she wasn't used to, or was it something that she couldn't control?

Maybe Blake was just thinking too far into this, or maybe she was right to think that Pyrrha wasn't as kind as once thought? Or, maybe Pyrrha and Yang were really after the same thing and just had a different method of going about achieving their goals... Pyrrha didn't seem like she was saying anything maliciously, in fact it seemed like harmless fun, but perhaps Ruby was too sensitive? Perhaps there's something else going on that she hasn't figured out... Hm, curious bunch, all of them.

Turning the warm water off and leaning against the near wall, Blake sighed as she considered everything she has gathered over the course of the last two or three days. What she knew: Her childhood friend was living next door to her and didn't remember her, all the while Blake herself was playing a game of hide and seek. All the while another friend of hers is willing to help keep her identity a secret, though it would appear as though Velvet may want something in return, and she knows exactly what that is.

The real question, though: does Blake have a right to be the person she was so long ago after all of this time? Does she have a right to the duty she once had when they were kids? Especially after all of this time, it was her charge to keep Ruby safe and she clearly failed if the young teen was here of all places... Clearly, Ruby was able to hold her own, maybe it was a sign that Blake didn't have to take up her mantle, even if she was allowed to...

Here's what she didn't know, however: The intentions of Ruby's friends, and that's what made her consider her former role to the girl next door. Maybe it was her protective nature telling her to get involved, but what was her right? Compared to Yang and Pyrrha, they might take offense at her getting involved so soon, and it might blow her and Ruby's cover... Really, Blake's cover could be blown all day long, as far as she was concerned. It was very easy for her to live under an assumed identity for a while if need be... But that wouldn't be fair to Ruby.

A lot of _'ifs'_ were brought up, here... And it's like the _'Old Bitch'_ used to say: If there's too many if's in a question, it's best to not get involved... But how could she not get involved? Why keep pondering this, though? Why not just talk to Velvet, or better yet, sit down and talk to Ruby?

... Maybe later. It might still be too soon and too suspicious. She sighed, giving in to the latter thought and opened the curtain, revealing a rather steamy bathroom. Clearly the fan wasn't the strongest in the world... Oh well, at least it was still warm. She grabbed a nearby towel and went to work drying herself off, glancing at the mirror around the corner and behind a divider wall that sat between the counter and the toilet. Within the mirror, through the fog that stuck to it, sat a girl with dripping wet black hair, amber eyes, and a pair of cat ears atop her head...

* * *

"I'm serious when I say," Ruby began, hesitantly, "It's been a while since I've been this late..."

"How are we late?" Her amber-eyed driver inquired, her voice painfully annoyed, "It's only seven-ten! You know we don't have to get here before seven every single day, right?

"Well I like to be punctual."

"It doesn't matter that much when we're up as early as we are, trust me. Besides, nobody's even here, yet..."

"Maybe they're waiting for the rain to die down?"

"Oh, they're gonna be so late, then..."

The duo sat in the car for a moment, the automatic light shutting off long ago as the sky barely began to light up. Blake was on the far side from the school, as she was the driver, but her black poncho was going to do its job nonetheless. Ruby's red jacket wasn't exactly the best at driving away the rain, as it was a cotton coat, but she didn't care. She wasn't allowed to wear it during class hours, due to Beacon's uniform policy, so by the time she gets back to it at two o'clock, it should be all dry.

Somehow, Blake was able to convince Ruby to leave a few minutes later, despite how early _she_ herself woke up. It was ten minutes past the time Ruby wanted to be, but it was still a good start. Not that getting in late was ever a good thing, the earlier meant the better parking, but sometimes it was better to have a little more time to one's self at home, especially since that extra time was used sleeping... Which was another thing Blake pondered: Was Ruby's sleeping habits the same as before?

The driver shook the though away as she watched the rain fall, turning towards her passenger. Both girls, with smiles on their faces and a hand on each door, began their count. "One..." Ruby said, her silver eyes shooting between the pouring rain outside and her compatriot beside her.

"Two..." Blake mimicked the count, her amber orbs focused on the falling water that would likely be her bane today.

Both girls gripped the handle of each door tightly before quickly throwing them open, a rush of heavy rain pelting them both, "Three!" They cried as their shoes splashed in the deep puddles. If the rain kept up like this then they'd be flooded out in no time. But that was in the back of Blake's mind, because before she could even close her door, her passenger was already halfway to the school, the car's passenger side door closed long ago it appeared. Baffled and dumbfounded, Blake stood back in surprise at the single fact that Ruby was _that fast_. Was it her short stature coming to her aide or was she just a speed demon?

Either way, the bow-wearing, poncho-using teen realized that she was about two seconds from getting washed away in the falling water and ran as fast as she could through the many puddles in the parking lot and under the overhang where Ruby was waiting, panting and laughing as she embraced the dry cover. "Wow." She chuckled, "How did you get here so fast?"

"Never ask questions about my speed, Blake." Ruby coolly replied, "I'm just that good."

"Ah, let's see if Pyrrha can bring down that ego of yours." Blake quipped while Ruby rolled her eyes.

"She has to catch me to do something about it." The silver-eyed teen opened the door for her friend, skipping inside behind her once Blake had walked in. "Do you know where your locker is? I can help with that?"

Throwing her hood off of her bow-topped head, Blake easily nodded, "Yang showed me after health class yesterday. She said I'm just down the hall from you and Pyrrha?"

"Yeah, Pyrrha and I are side by side with each other, and you're next to Yang."

"I see." The duo turned into a nearby stairwell in order to go upwards, their lockers both located within the same wing on the second story. On their way up, Ruby peered out the windowed stairwell and watched the rain fall as the sun began brightening the sky a little bit more, quickly rising over the horizon, but you wouldn't know because of the clouds. After a moment, once she got to the top of the stairwell, she felt a hand on the small of her back lightly pushing her ahead, instantly knowing the owner of that hand and why said owner was doing this.

Blake kept moving, pretty much trying to keep Ruby to the same ends. The less that they saw the gloomy outdoors today, perhaps the better? She hoped, at least. After a short walk down the long hallway, a string of lockers appeared along the wall. "Mine is right here." Ruby pointed, "Just in case you want to know in the future."

Blake observed the numbers on the lockers, then the numbers on the hallway before each classroom. "Twenty-Three-thousand block, huh?"

"This is the Science wing." Ruby easily explained, "Each core class has a hall with lockers, each locker is designated a number depending on their hall, the floor is the first number- so for us it's two since we're on the second floor." Blake nodded at the familiar information, "The numbers get weirder when you're in another part of the school. Hasn't Yang told you this, yet?"

Blake quickly nodded with a look of surprise, not expecting the question. "Y-yeah, of course she did! I was just testing you to see if you knew!"

Silver eyes rolled around as their owner glanced at her friend, who was quickly departing to avoid the inbound sass. "Sure you were," Ruby slyly said, "Sure you were." Blake stuck her tongue out playfully before turning the corner, disappearing down the corridor. The young teen then turned towards her locker and began to fiddle with the combination lock; four, turn around counterclockwise to one, then two-turns clockwise to one. Very simple, but Ruby always forgot the last turn in the combination _every single time_. Even after a few weeks of having this new locker, she still found difficulty in it. Seriously, though, why have two turns? Why not just one turn clockwise like _normal_ locks? What sense did this make, locker gods!?

At least, that was her rant towards it. Nobody else seemed to have one that used more than one turn, which is what made it all the more annoying for her. At least to her luck, if anyone wanted to steal her stuff, they'd have a difficult time getting into her locker.

After a few more minutes of careful turning Ruby jiggled the lever above the dial and was able to push it inwards completely, allowing her to finally swing her locker open with a sigh. Finally, she can put away her damp coat and exchange her books from yesterday for the proper classes today. As she shed her jacket, a feeling of dread came over her, causing goose bumps to encompass her body. Ruby threw her jacket within her given space before turning around and examining her surroundings, hurriedly scouring the corridors to see if anyone was watching her. Normally, there would be a few students walking about the hall and some would turn towards her, from a distance Ruby- anyone, really- would and could look like a friend, but as they got closer it would turn out that their thoughts were wrong. Ruby couldn't judge or complain, because she was guilty of doing the same thing sometimes.

But this feeling... This wasn't somebody looking for their friend down the hall. No, this was someone _watching_ her, somebody who was _waiting_ for her... But there was nobody there...

"Blake?" She called, turning to face the hall where her new friend's locker resided, "You there?"

No answer.

This caused Ruby to begin to worry, her thoughts now carrying that it might be Yang trying to cause a jump scare on the young teen, or maybe Pyrrha. It was definitely an option, considering this past April Fool's. Though when she turned the corner, all she saw was an open locker and a body covered by the door. This was clearly Blake and she was far enough down that if she was trying a prank, it wouldn't be done well.

"Maybe... Maybe I'm just paranoid." Ruby convinced herself with a sigh as she turned back towards her locker. She quickly grabbed her books and closed the door, but was surprised to find a body behind the door, someone no taller than she was with pure, snow-white hair. This sudden presence caused Ruby to jump in surprise, but once she stared into the icy-blue eyes of Weiss Schnee, a familiar feeling of dread turned into a nervous tone of voice. "Weiss?" She inquired curiously. "U-um, hi?"

"You!" Weiss snapped with her index finger extended, causing her soon-to-be victim to wince from the sound of Weiss' voice level. "Do you have any idea how much trouble Emerald is in because of you?!"

"Uh..." Ruby rubbed the back of her head curiously, "Probably a lot?"

"Quite! And yet you can run away scot free?"

"Well, yeah, because-"

"Aup-up-up! I want to know what you think you're doing taking the high and mighty role so easily when you brought yourself lower than Em!" Weiss' harsh tone once again caused Ruby to flinch, though her hands balled into fists as the berating continued. "Once again you proved just how far down the totem pole you really are."

Blake could hear the commotion from down the hall and quickly ran back towards her friend, but stopped around the corner with interest. Yesterday may have been good test of her, having a high pressure situation in front of a crowd like that would cause many to hold their tongues, but this might hold a differing response from the teen. Perhaps Ruby did better in front of an audience?

"How does that even work?" Ruby inquired honestly, "If she's so high and mighty and she brought herself down to _my_ level, then how is she still way up there? Seriously, I want to know!"

 _'Atta girl, Ruby...'_

"That's you're argument?" Weiss challenged with a raise of her eyebrow, "You're really pathetic. But, then again, I shouldn't expect anything less from one of Yang's cronies..." The comment was so backhanded that Ruby was completely taken aback, unable to respond in any way which gave Weiss the opportunity, "She's such a bad influence for a little girl like yourself. I'd stop hanging out with her if I were you."

The smug smirk on the white-themed girl's face sparked an anger within both Ruby and Blake, even though the latter was still hiding behind the corner in waiting. The former, however, took her chance, even with a nervous rage building inside of her. "O-oh-ho! Don't bring her into this! This is between you and me!"

"You and I, missy."

"I don't need to listen to this!" Ruby chimed, "I defended myself yesterday and luck was in my favor with Goodwitch and I got away relatively unscathed. If you have an issue with that, fine, bring it up with Goodwitch herself, but I won't be losing sleep over it." Weiss simply blinked as her adversary continued, "I don't get your logic and I'm done with this argument. I have better things to do today."

Ruby turned to walk away, grabbing her backpack and throwing it over her shoulders, though Weiss was finished. She cryptically chuckled, causing the red-themed teen to stop in her tracks and slowly turn. "Like what? Spend time with your new friend while dragging her down more and more? I'm surprised she hasn't drowned yet!" Silver eyes blinked at the insult, deep down however, Ruby winced at the wording alone, "Oh well, I'm over it. We gave her a chance to be somebody in life, but she chose you! Bad judgment, if you ask me."

Silver eyes blinked, trying to find someone, anyone to back her up. Ruby was on the losing end of this fight and she knew it, but this white-haired monster wasn't letting her go! All she wanted to do was leave, find her friends and laugh a little before gym class, was that too much to ask? Still, she had to say something, otherwise Weiss and her friends will take an upper hand... High School drama sucks...

Wait... Why was _Weiss_ of all people challenging her?

Ruby shook the thought away, she couldn't dwell on that right now, she had to get away from this altercation before anybody else saw. As she turned on her heel, her mouth opened to rebut the earlier claim, a voice from around the corner behind her stopped her. Once again, Silver orbs blinked as their owner's face eased up, the new, soothing, voice caused Ruby and Weiss to turn around and face this new arrival, the former's face lighting up to see that it was indeed Blake coming to her aide.

"Is it really poor judgment?" The black-haired girl inquired honestly as well as accusingly, a small smile on her face as she slowly approached the two short teens, "Miss Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Mining Company?"

The heiress' face lit up at the announcement of her title, "Ah, I can see that my reputation preceded me."

"The same company who is under constant scrutiny for their controversial labor rules and shoddy business practices."

"WHAT!?"

Ruby chuckled softly before stepping back, allowing her friend to take completely control of the confrontation now. "I'm not sure if hanging out with the daughter of a corrupt, selfish business owner is really good judgment. I'll pass on your company... Huh, that's a pun, isn't it?"

"I-I, you-!" The shrill stutter of the heiress announced to the duo that she was beaten, even she knew that she had nothing to counter the new arrival, so instead Weiss gripped her white purse, one with her father's company insignia on it, and walked away with a huff. Ruby looked amazed towards her new friend's mastery of the argument, so easily able to dispatch anyone, especially Weiss. The heiress was easily the least aggressive, but the most determined by far.

Which gave Blake her starting point. "I thought you said she was the more docile of the group... Her and that Emerald girl?"

"Th-they are, believe it or not..." Ruby anxiously scratched her neck before gripping her backpack until her knuckles went white. Amber eyes blinked as she observed that fact, though let her friend explain before taking further action, "I-I don't know why they're getting so... Mean. They usually don't care for us, it was always Merc or Cinder who are the instigators..."

 _'I have a theory..._ ' Blake shook the thought away and nodded, accepting the response while keeping her thoughts to herself. As she did, she put her hand on her short friend's shoulder and gave her a curious, yet calm look. "You can calm down anytime now, you know?"

"Oh, right... Yeah." It took a few deep breaths but Ruby eventually eased her grip on her bag and visibly calmed down, "Thanks... For all of that back there..."

"Don't mention it." The taller teen began to walk away, gesturing for her friend to follow, who obeyed with a quick nod. As she caught up, Ruby began to lose the tunnel vision she had a few moments ago and saw the rest of the halls, still mostly empty, even for quarter-past-seven. The weather must be backing people up, as both noted how the rain was still falling as consistently as it was before they left the complex.

They stopped at the stop of the stairs and observed the outdoors, the sun had brightened up the cloudy sky just to the point where they can make out pure grey and gloomy skies, personifying both of their feelings for the past night.

"Also," Ruby began down the stairs first, her friend close behind her, "Yang hears nothing about this... Seriously, not a word."

"I agree."

* * *

"Come on, stupid junk lock! Open!" Yang commanded as she struggled with her portable gym locker lock, the dial sticking to itself with every turn. Eventually, after her third retry, the blonde nurse-in-training was able to finally pop the lock open, allowing her to sigh thankfully. "There we go, finally!"

"Did you get it, Yang?" Pyrrha inquired, pulling out her gym clothes from her bag. Yang did the same and threw it on the bench behind her.

"Yeah."

"Good, now you don't have to use my locker."

"Oh please," Nora chimed from across the aisle in the next hall of lockers. "She would just use Ruby's, or maybe even Blake's!"

The former physically stiffened before continuing with her lock work, while the latter, who had just picked her gym locker, ignored the comment. The gym locker rooms of Beacon were divided into males and females- though at one point they were co-ed at one point. The team couldn't speak for the boys locker room, but in the girls locker room was rather large, about two to three hundred lockers within, once you chose a locker it was yours for the semester. There was about ten spaces within the first half, each space was well-enough sized to hold about twenty small lockers, one stacked on top of the other. Ruby, Yang and Pyrrha took the third space while Nora had to go with the space across the aisle from them, her space was occupied by a few people in other classes.

Both Yang and Pyrrha took top lockers, the former's was stacked on top of Ruby's one the left side of the space while the latter was on the right side, one locker away from the back corner.

"Nah, I couldn't do that to the new girl." Lilac eyes winked at the aforementioned teen, who smirked easily and nodded. "And commandeering Killer's locker here is probably a no-go, so... I'd take yours, Pyr." Ruby shifted slightly at her newfound nickname, given by Yang earlier this morning. It turns out that word spread rather quickly about the young teen's ownership of the confrontation the day prior, though she didn't know about this morning's incident. Blake was still, luckily, a woman of her word. Yang noticed the shift in her friend's stance and playfully nudged her, "Come on, I'm just playing."

"I know, I know." Ruby deadpanned before glancing back at her neighbor, who was in the process of shedding her uniform shirt. "I'd just like to fly under the radar for a few days, let this all blow over."

"I wouldn't." Nora called with gusto, theatrically throwing her locker open, "It's not every day someone puts one of those jerks in their place!"

Yang deflated a bit before turning to her short friend across the aisle, "Nora." The orange haired teen turned to her lilac eyed friend with interest, "What do I try to do on a daily basis?"

"You don't do it with _class_ though." Blake deadpanned with a smirk, causing a wave of 'ooh's' to rally around the group. "At least by what I've seen so far."

"Uh-huh, funny." Yang turned to her red-themed friend beside her and smirked, "I think Nora's right, Rubes. Sure you'd get a lot of attention for this but if more people know that you can put up a fight than more people will leave you alone."

"Not sure if that's how it works but whatever you say Yang."

"I just want to know what Emerald was thinking." Pyrrha chimed, quickly throwing her sports shirt on over her head. "It's not like her to go solo like that..."

"Maybe it's Cinder telling her to do so?" Yang inquired aloud, stuffing her backpack away in her small locker.

Blake intently listened as the tall duo across from her space talked it out, her mind already intent on an answer. It was because Ruby was the weakest link in the eyes of their adversaries, in fact the young teen touched up on it yesterday. Emerald must have thought that she would have gotten brownie points for a confrontation in front of the whole school, but as it turns out, Ruby is not to be trifled with... Which brings up this morning's incident with Weiss...

Why did the heiress choose to confront the teen outside of an audience, and why did Ruby do so poorly this time? She could have easily walked away the first time she said she would, so what stopped her? And what was Weiss going for? Perhaps she was just searching for an answer as to why Ruby isn't in trouble when Emerald was? Even so, she hit way too many rather harsh points to figure out _that_. Curious...

"Either way," Ruby chimed, "I'm just counting myself lucky that I didn't get into too much trouble." She stuffed her backpack and uniform away, the latter was neatly hung against the side coat hanger and closed her locker, having fully changed very quickly in-between the two woman beside her. She sat down to tie her gym shoes and thought aloud some more, "I'm also lucky I'm not an online sensation."

"Oh, you'd make a great internet star!" Nora cheered, "And _I'd_ be a great manager of a certain great internet star!" She moved to wrap her arm around the teen, though Yang slapped that hand away quickly with a smirk.

"And _I'd_ be the best _bodyguard_ to the internet star."

"Whoa." Pyrrha called, having fully changed out as quickly as possible. Blake noticed how fast all four of her friends were at this, they were all in their school gym uniforms while she still sat back with her gym shorts on but no shirt yet, though luckily Nora seemed to be as slow as her for now. The red-ponytailed athlete rested her foot on the bench and tied her shoelaces while continuing, "Now that's a bodyguard I'd like to have on my back... Can I hire you for the weekends?"

"Sorry, I work the weekends. And I'm not sure if you can match hospital pay."

"You make more than minimum wage at that place, Yang?" The young chef across the aisle inquired honestly, though she didn't get the response she was hoping for as Yang shook her head.

"Technically I'm a volunteer, so no pay. But I get an allowance from daddy for working there, so..."

Just as Ruby was about to chime in again, she felt a familiar feeling of dread sneak up on her, then noticed how the atmosphere around her began to change to a more negative tone... She could just feel the air shift around her, and was quickly able to figure out why as the familiar feeling caused her to turn and face familiar ivy-blue eyes. Weiss was standing in between the locker spaces, staring down the red-themed teen, whose stare wasn't as harsh as hers.

Yang and Pyrrha didn't take too kindly to the sudden appearance, especially the harsh gaze from the heiress, though the latter only stood with her arms crossed in front of her chest, "What do you want, Schnee?" The blonde harshly asked, though a lone finger from her target caused her to stop in her tracks.

Silver orbs and Icy-blue eyes blinked, almost in unison as the duo continued to stare each other down, the latter was the first to say something after a very tense moment, her voice steady and honest. "No hard feelings?"

Ruby was surprised, to say the least. Considering everything that's happened both today and yesterday, the heiress pulls this... Why? What angle was she playing... If she was even playing an angle, she might actually be trying to apologize. And even though Yang and Pyrrha were confused, Ruby still nodded carefully, though kept quiet. If she was serious, then Ruby would want an apology for some of the harsher things said about her friends from the heiress, but deep down knew that asking for it here would raise too much suspicion. She would have to hold off for until she and her friends were separated from each other to avoid intensifying the situation further.

Blake finally changed into her shirt while watching the display unfold before her, the confused faces on all of her friends, save for Ruby, made this all the more enjoyable, yet all the more scary. If they weren't careful, they would blow their whole secret from earlier...

Weiss nodded easily and walked away, deep into the locker room as many students began to walk out. Yang looked back towards her young friend who instantly stopped her and told her not to worry about it, all the while Pyrrha, Nora and Blake had left with the rest of the group. Once able, Yang and Ruby were right behind them, out just ten seconds after the fact.

Was the heiress apologizing for her friend's assault yesterday? Or was there something that happened that involved Weiss that Ruby wasn't willing to talk about? Either way, it scared Yang to think of the worst. First Emerald, now Weiss? Next thing you know the full force of the group of elitist wannabes would come down on the red-themed teen again, and this time Yang alone might not be able to help, since she's not often available anymore. Either way, the thought was not pleasant, and the nurse-in-training could only hope that she had taught Ruby right in regards to self-defense.

She could take solace in the fact that, contrary to last year, her younger friend was starting to show signs of life when it came to direct confrontations, getting better and better at handling those situations.

The group began their small crowd in the middle of their side of the gym as they awaited their instructor, Professor Goodwitch, to line them up for warm-ups. Usually the class would take twenty minutes to run around, loosen up and get ready for whatever sport they were playing that day, and today was Pyrrha's specialty: Volleyball. The class would be divided into eight captains, the rest would wait until they were assigned a team, via drafting. Captains were usually volunteers, too. The class was about fifty people all together, which wasn't too bad considering boys and girls. The class was co-ed, the lockers were not (to Yang's despair).

The gymnasium was split into three equal sizes: Boys side, Middle, and Girls side. Boys and Girls side had a door that went right into the locker rooms while the middle was... Literally in the middle of the two gyms. There was a black and red curtain above the gym's that stood as a divider while at both ends were bleachers that were stashed away until either a prep rally or an important game. The curtains were up for now, revealing the sheer size of the gym itself. It wasn't as big as one would think, actually, it was pretty average in size. But there was two other smaller gyms used as practice facilities that was connected to the main room, so there was that. Above the gym was multiple basketball hoops-two per gym side- yet to be lowered for a game.

"Oh, Pyrrha," Blake called the teen to attention, "Ruby has something to tell you."

"Oh?" The emerald-eyed athlete said with interest, turning to the short teen who eyed her neighbor with malice, "What's that?"

"It's not something I wanted to tell you, nor was it something _that needed to be brought up again, Blake_." The black-haired teen shrugged with a smile, wrapping her hair into a ponytail like Pyrrha's and let her friend continue, "And it's not really important."

"I insist." Pyrrha assured, "Everything's important if you have something to say."

"No, it's nothing."

"Ruby was talking shit earlier."

"I was not, Blake!"

"Were too!"

Pyrrha raised an eyebrow curiously as Yang and Nora watched on, all interested in just what the young teen said. It wasn't everyday that she said something out of line, especially to one of her own friends. Blake, however, took the reins. "We were running to the school from my car to get out of the rain and she said that you wouldn't be able to catch her."

"Oh." Yang waved off the comment and backed away, Pyrrha rolled her eyes and Ruby shook her head as the blonde came back for a comment, "Like we didn't know that already."

"What?"

"Ruby has the best cardio out of all of us, even me!" Pyrrha added, "I'm the one who said that I couldn't catch her if I tried." The amber-eyed teen hung her head dejectedly as her neighbor stuck her tongue out, "It's not like she's saying something that isn't true."

Before anybody could comment on the fact further, Goodwitch finally blew her whistle three times, which caused everyone to jump and move towards the far wall, in this case it was the wall closest to the girls locker room, and split into lines of three. Yang gestured towards Blake for the new student to follow and she had no choice but to comply, lining up behind Ruby and her blonde guide (in that order) while beside them was Pyrrha, Nora and now Jaune, who lined up behind Pyrrha.

"Just follow our lead." Yang quickly said, "This is very easy."

"I'm a follower today, got it."

"You'll be a follower for much longer than today, trust me."

"Run to the other end, go!" The whistle called and the first in lines took off, once they made it to the end of the girl's gym and entered the middle gym the whistle blew again, and when the second group made it so far, then the third group went.

Luckily enough, warm ups were about as easy as Blake thought. After a few laps they began to skip instead of run, then would do walking lunges for a lap, then did push-ups and each line, ten for each line you were at. Given all that they were doing, it was astounding that it took so long, but then again the sheer size of the class might have something to do with that. Which also made Blake wonder just how they were going to go about playing something today, was it a draft system or could they decide their own teams?

When the warm ups were completed, Professor Goodwitch stood in the middle of the gym, her students either leaning against the wall or standing close to it, intent on hearing their objective for today. "Listen up," She began, "In about two or three weeks my class will start swimming, while Professor Port's morning class will start it next week." A few students groaned, Ruby included, though some cheered. Others stayed stoic and uncaring, "As for today, we're going to continue our lesson from last week and play some Co-Ed Volleyball. I need four captains from each gym."

Pyrrha was first to walk forward from the girl's gym, her boyfriend right behind her with a sinister smirk. Clearly he was looking to play against his Mystralian girlfriend. "This is for yesterday." He said, moving towards the middle of the gym. Before anyone else could say or do anything, joking or other, a familiar short teen walked forward from the middle of the group. Blake instantly remembered the teen as Cinder Fall, and cringed at the sight.

"Oh boy, here we go." Yang deadpanned. "Of course she goes against Pyrrha."

"What? Does she not like Pyrrha specifically or something?"

"She just has an ego to her, thinking that she's better than everyone." The blonde easily explained, "Our star down there managed to beat her out of both the Volleyball and Soccer teams last year, and Cinder did not take it well."

"High School drama," Ruby sighed, "Never pretty." Yang nudged the young teen slightly, as if she were teasing her about something, but she couldn't figure out what. She let it slide, ignoring the contact and watching as more students came forward. Once there was enough students up in the middle of the gym, Goodwitch blew her whistle, Professor Port standing beside her, though the former got the speaking role.

"Alright, we're going to draft teams, now, and captains will get to choose based on who came up first to last. Miss Nikos, you were our first volunteer so you have the floor."

The emerald eyed teen nodded with a small smile and turned towards her friends, as if any other choice would be made today. Between Ruby, Yang, Nora and Blake, she had her options opened. Though she knew what she had to do, to avoid her new friend being caught up with the wrong people and corrupted... "Blake." She easily called, "Come on down." The black haired teen nodded, her bow twitching slightly as she did, but luckily nobody seemed to notice.

"Mr. Arc." Port boomed, "I believe you're up next."

Jaune smirked and glanced towards the end of the gym, "As much as I hate to do this, I'm going to go for the muscle team today. Cardin, I need your services."

"Oh boy." The large boy sarcastically said, "I get to be dominated by Pyrrha again, today."

"If it's any consolation, meathead," Pyrrha quipped, "I wasn't going to pick you anyway."

The class began to cheer at the insult, the large boy stopping for a moment and staring down his new target. He muttered something illegible beneath his breath and let it slide, for now. The draft progressed, students being picked up left and right, Cinder picked up Mercury, though eyed Ruby, much to the younger teen's concern.

To her, no other team mattered than Pyrrha's, maybe even Jaune's team would be nice to be on. So far the blonde young man had picked up a few of the Grifball players, him being on the team as the "aggressor" or the ball runner made it easy to find his teammates for Volleyball today. Jaune was nice and all, but nothing compared to the kindness of Yang and Nora. Luckily for her, every captain was choosing their friends so in a matter of a few minutes she should be in a group.

At least she hoped. Ruby couldn't help but feel the cold stare of Cinder throughout the entire drafting process. Pyrrha noticed this too late, having chosen Yang and relinquishing her place in the draft allowing Jaune a chance to choose. Unfortunately, he wasn't paying attention and picked somebody else entirely, someone Ruby didn't know too well.

The draft had gone around a few times, so each team had about four people, and now they were choosing their fifth. Pyrrha had Yang, Nora and Blake. Cinder had Emerald, Weiss and Mercury and the captain was looking directly at Ruby, giving her an uneasy feeling. It wasn't the fact that she was chosen last, no she could live with that, it was the fact that a yellow-eyed, black haired witch was eyeing her like a hawk.

 _'Was Cinder honestly considering picking me?'_ Ruby asked herself, her nerves getting to her, _'Or... Does she have something else in mind?'_

"You're up, Miss Fall." Goodwitch easily stated, "Please be fast, I'd like to get a few games in today."

Down at the end of the gym sat an ever patient Weiss Schnee, waiting to be picked up by her friends. Near her was Penny Polendina, a quirky orange-haired teen with a few screws loose... Not in a Nora Valkyrie way, in almost an awkward way, but nobody really talked about it. She was really good at sports and that made her quite valuable, even though she was insufferable to most people. At least, that's about as lightly as most students would put it. Still, sitting at three and probably wanting to keep up the elite echo chamber, Cinder had a choice before her.

Emerald was silently egging her on to pick Ruby in hopes of getting a little bit of revenge for yesterdays excursion, though Mercury was being the metaphorical angel on Cinder's shoulder, telling the shorter woman to go with Weiss and avoid not only the hassle of carrying a pathetic "Bottom Feeder" as he called most people, but also to avoid the crap they'd pick up from Pyrrha's team, maybe even Jaune's team, too.

With a deep sigh, Cinder quickly made up her mind. Revenge would have to come during the games today, if they were lucky enough to face one another. If not, then both Cinder and Emerald had one more class with Ruby today, and they would strike back then. "Weiss," The black haired teen called, wagging a lone finger at the heiress, "I need you here."

Emerald stood back, dumbfounded that her friend would ignore her cry's for vengeance like that. It was Cinder that eased the pain of a sharp stab to the pride after yesterday's debacle, it was Cinder who swore for payback, so why not take the chance and go for it now? Why let it simmer? As the white-haired heiress got ever closer, blood red eyes stared daggers into the back of the shorter captain before turning towards the red-themed teen, who was finally allowed to breathe a sigh of relief. Silver eyes met the red orbs of Emerald before their owner shook her head.

 _'Thank the light for egos.'_ Ruby internally said, her prayer going to the gods on high. Luck still held out, that's for sure. For how long, though...

In no time the draft came back around to Pyrrha who quickly attained Ruby, much to the younger teens panic. As the silver-eyed teen lined up with her friends, she shot a passing glance towards her the emerald-eyed teen that loomed above her, offering a few words from her mind as she passed.

"Leave me back like that again and I'll gut you like a fish."

"I'd like to see you try." Pyrrha retorted easily, understanding why Ruby felt that way and also realizing that she just might be serious. Given that Cinder and her lackeys never really got along with the younger teen in the first place, let alone with anyone associated with Yang specifically, it was easy to see just why Ruby would be nervous and quite frankly miffed at the thought of spending time with the group for anymore than a few minutes.

"Calm down, Ruby." Yang soothed, easing her stance a bit, trying to lean back as Ruby took her place behind the blonde. "Pyrrha didn't realize what was going on."

"That's not the point, Yang." The red-themed deadpanned with a heavy sigh, "But whatever, I'm over it."

"Are you?"

"Drop it, Yang." Pyrrha intervened, "Sorry, Ruby. I'll make it up to you later, okay?" The red-themed teen nodded, her face stoic as she glanced towards the freshly formed team beside them, Penny having just fallen in line. This one would be a team to beat today, but not for any other reason than for bragging rights.

Glynda huffed into her whistle three times, bringing attention to herself and Professor Port beside her. She offered a glance to the man, giving him the floor though he shook his head and waived his rights to speak for the blonde woman, who rolled her emerald eyes. "Very well, then. As I've said already, today is volleyball day, and we have enough time for four, maybe five ten-minute matches. Teams are numbered based on their order in the draft, Even teams that win will stay in their respective half of the gym while odd teams that win will move in a clockwise form. Even teams that lose will move counterclockwise to the other side of the room unless we say otherwise." The students began to nod as they understood the calmly said instructions from their rather busty instructor. "The girls side of the gym and the middle of the gym are for winners while the boys side will be for the losing teams."

"Oh, I see how it is." Port indignantly said, seemingly taking offense at the setup that even he agreed too. Goodwitch rolled her eyes and ignored the man before continuing.

"Teams one and eight will begin in the far back of the girl's gym, two and seven will be next to them, so on and so forth you all know how it's done. Stay respectful to each other, be fair with the score, and please keep the trash talking to a minimum. Go ahead and go."

Port blew into his whistle three brief times, dismissing all of the teams to their respective courts. Usually the clockwise system worked in terms of facing away from the entrance to the gym, facing the far wall of the room. So in this case, win and the team moves right. Since they were an odd numbered team, at least. If they lost, they'd stay in place, unless they were told otherwise. Usually there were issues with this but neither instructor would be open to debating a system that worked just yet, so it was all a bit screwy so far.

"Can't face Jaune just yet, Pyr." Yang taunted as the team took their positions, Pyrrha in the middle, Blake and Ruby on the front left and right (respectively) and Nora in the back left, leaving Yang serving on the back right. "Too bad." The emerald eyed teen stuck her tongue out at her friend as the other team took their place, tossing a volleyball that they had received over towards the aforementioned blonde. "I'll serve when you're ready!" Yang affirmed, patiently waiting and dribbling the ball while the Team Eight readied up. Once they all gave a thumbs up, Yang took a firm hold of the ball in both of her hands before tossing it into the air, her hand into a tight fist as gravity began to bring the padded orb down to her.

"Zero serving zero!"

* * *

 **Ah, Volleyball. I remember playing that in Gym in high school... I always overshot the serve. Every. Single. Time.**

 **Oh well, that's not what we're here about now, is it? No, we're here to wrap this story up! So what did we see? Well, hints here and there of various things. Does Weiss feel remorse for what she said? What was Cinder's endgame with choosing Ruby? Why is Jaune on the Grifball team?**

 **... Why is there a Grifball team?**

 **Anyway, there were a few things touched up on and a few things I left out. I know some of you wanted me to get back with Junior and Neo to see what's going on in paradise, but I just can't yet. Give it two, maybe three chapters and we'll definitely see it come to light. In the meantime, we're going to watch Blake adjust to her new friends and also take notes for a thesis paper in the future... Yeah, I'm really not going to give that part up.**

 **Past that, though, how did you all like it? I still feel like it's a bit too much, it was more plot than anything else. Next chapter for sure we'll see some game time, and someone is going to go above and beyond the call quite a few times. Bonus points if you can guess correctly as to who it is. If you'll excuse me, I got some work to do.**

 **Until Next Time.**


	8. Championship Round

**Yeah, this one is actually one of the more annoying chapters that I forced myself to write. In advanced, I'm sorry that you guys have to read this. If you want to skip it, I won't blame it. Warning! It is completely repetitious and annoying! I have no idea how to speak Volleyball... Or much sports for that matter. Sorry.**

 **That being said, this chapter does hold some importance in a few ways. I also cut this down from 12k words of idiocy that made even my beta reader cringe (sorry, buddy!) to this, cutting down on something that was not really as important. If you'd like, and the demand is extremely high for it, I'll actually edit the chapter before chapter 9 goes up and I'll include the last 4 or 5 thousand words where necessary. I'll throw a Poll up on my account so if you want, go ahead and vote!**

 **Once again, I can't apologize enough for how poorly written this one is. Go ahead and take out your annoyance on me, I promise that the next one won't be as bad! I'll see you guys at the end of the chapter.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

"Yeah, baby!" Yang declared, pumping her fists as her team scored their fourth straight win. "Undefeated! That's how it's done!" She high fived everyone on her team as they began to pool into the middle gym to find out where they would go for their last game. "That's girl power right there!"

"Alright, Yang, calm down." Ruby chided with a smirk, "We've still got one more game ahead of us before we can celebrate."

"Sorry, Rubes, but I'm only taking orders from the team captain!" Yang patted Pyrrha on the back, who rolled her emerald eyes and sighed. "What?"

"What if I make Ruby the co-captain, will you listen then?"

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that Ruby has a point. Yes, we're undefeated but we still have one more game to play, so we shouldn't get so hyped yet. Eyes on the prize, Yang, we're not there yet."

Yang deflated, but did as she was told, falling into line and calming down her victory parade. Nora and Blake stood back to observe the display, the former rather impressed with what she saw.

"That's something you don't see everyday, Pyrrha agreeing with Ruby on Yang's "Hyped-Up" antics..."

"What does she normally do?" Blake inquired, "Ignore her or something?"

"Nah, normally Ruby just goes along with it until we all get annoyed, but even then it takes a long time for us to get annoyed by Yang. She'd really have to hit a few nerves before that happens. I'm saying it's weird because she never really speaks up..."

"Ah," Blake nodded in understanding, noticing a common theme between her neighbor and her friends: That the Ruby she was seeing now was not the same one from two weeks ago. So what changed? The black-haired teen had only been here for a little under a week, so her presence alone couldn't have done it... Was it Yang and Pyrrha's constant pressure, or even Velvet and Coco's constant efforts that drove this change? Or was it the fact that something happened over the course of the last week that forced this change?

Many teams had been standing in or around the middle gym, patiently waiting for the instructors to set up the last match of the day. They had twenty minutes in class to go, which left ten to play and ten to change out into their school uniforms. It seemed like enough time and for most it usually was, though some who took showers after class were usually hard pressed for time.

"Last match!" Goodwitch declared after another huff into her whistle, causing many teams quickly scurrying to their next match. As if there was any doubt, Pyrrha's team made it undefeated, but weren't the only ones. Cinder's team had also achieved their four-and-zero status, so now for bragging rights the two super teams came together in the court right in front of the instructors tables in the Main Gym, or the Middle Gym as it was commonly referred to. "Make it count!" With another huff of her whistle the time began, and the busty instructor brought both teams into the middle of the court to discuss the rules of the match.

"Alright, ladies... And Mercury." The boy gave a quick nod, uncaring, "Here are the rules: This match is for bragging rights only and it will go until somebody has eleven points or we say otherwise. Usual rules in place except the trash talking rules. I know how rowdy you all can get when your around each other." Yang and Weiss shared a spiteful glance as Cinder and Pyrrha did the same, Blake admiring the passion of hatred these two groups had for each other and how if she were in college, this group would make a good thesis.

Actually, she should start taking notes now, this thesis is practically writing itself.

"Cinder, you're team is going to serve first, swap positions after every change of possession, and please try to have fun." All present nodded before slowly walking back to their respective sides, their instructor holding onto the game ball while her students moved into position.

In the front for Cinder's team was Mercury and Emerald, the middle position was held down by Penny, while the two back positions were held by Weiss in server's position and Cinder opposite of her.

On Pyrrha's side was Ruby on the front right, next in line to serve, with Blake across from her in front left. Nora, being a notorious bad server (despite her restaurant prowess... Yang's overused pun) was behind Blake, last in line to serve. Pyrrha held the middle position and Yang was serving in back right, though the captain had an issue with that.

"Wait, one sec!" She called quickly, gesturing for Ruby and Yang to huddle, "Ruby." She quickly stated, "No offense but I'm going to need every tall person I can in fro-"

The silver eyes teen knew where this was going and nodded, "No offense taken, I get it." She and Yang traded spots quickly, the shorter of the two taking the back spot as the blonde slowly moved up, her expression confused and weary of her athletic friend. Pyrrha shrugged, her plan was one of victory though she understood the stares from her friend. She could also feel Nora's harsh gaze on her back, though did her best to ignore it.

It seemed to Pyrrha that the only people who understood her reasoning was herself, Ruby and maybe Blake, who hadn't done anything to warrant her being suspicious. It was a common tactic, keeping taller people in the front to instantly fire back over the net with little or no issue, while the shorter teammates would be more for in case of emergency, and keeping Ruby in the back for that reason alone was enough for the captain. Ruby was far more athletic than she let on and was a true secret weapon, having scored or assisted with over half of the points in today's game alone. It really caught not only Pyrrha's eyes, but also Professor Goodwitch's as well.

Speaking of the instructor, the older blonde woman stepped in, ensured that both teams were ready and tossed the game ball to Weiss on the other end, who easily caught and dribbled it in patience. "You have a little over eight minutes to score eleven points. Good luck."

With another huff of her whistle, she backed away and began to observe what was sure to be a rivalry match like no other. To everyone present in the Champion Court, time seemed to slow, their surroundings were no longer existent as Weiss tossed the volleyball into the air, using only half of her strength to make impact with it and smacking it over the net.

Pyrrha was right under it, having little time to prepare for the speedy strike. Very quickly she was able to get both hands clasped together and under the ball, causing a dig that sent the pure white orb airborne, though it didn't have enough force to make it back over. This is where both Yang and Blake came in, rushing towards their airborne target the latter was in the air first but purposefully whiffed the strike, allowing Yang to capitalize on any confusion and bring the ball down in the sweet spot between Cinder and the entire right side of the court. The ball fell inbounds, causing a point.

"One-Nothing." Glynda declared. "Swap serves every three points." Weiss nodded and accepted the ball from Penny, who awkwardly tossed the ball to the heiress after chasing after it. Weiss sized up her shot, lining up carefully. From experience, she knew that Nora wasn't the best in the world at this game, so the next shot would be going right to her. In familiar fashion, Weiss sent the ball airborne and with an open palm, sent it straight towards the young chef in the far back.

There was a lot of power behind this shot, enough to make Nora consider not going after it, but when it arced just past the net and began to shift its way downward, the hyperactive girl realized that she had to hurry in order to save the play. Unfortunately, she was too late, having dove for the ball too late, she missed the easy dig in front of her face and the ball landed just barely inbounds. Pyrrha sighed, but helped her friend up as Ruby gave chase after the rogue equipment.

"Never take a chance, Nora." Pyrrha easily explained, "Good attempt though." The chef rubbed her aching chest after having a hard landing, all the while her red-themed friend beside her threw the ball back and made ensured her friend's safety.

"This is going to be a fast game." Ruby admonished, patting her friend on the back.

"It'll be okay, little flower." Nora assured, "The faster, the better."

Pyrrha rolled her eyes as she eavesdropped on the conversation behind her. Sure, faster the better, but this was a rivalry match more than anything. It wouldn't be over that quickly...

Why was she getting so serious about this? This isn't conference play, it's gym class? The athletic teen shook her thoughts away and watched as Weiss served up the one-one shot, smacking the ball over the next and right into her space. "I got it!" She confirmed, getting an easy dig and sending the ball airborne and to the right slightly, into Yang's territory. The blonde jumped to meet the orb halfway and spiked it downward, right behind Emerald, though the red-eyed teen saw it coming and was able to back up and deny a usually easy point. The ball now in the air on the opposite side, Cinder was the one to get out of position, though her attempt to end a rally went sideways as her spike had too much power behind it and flew right past Ruby and out of bounds.

"Uhg." The short, young woman groaned, "Bad aim."

"What else is new?" Merc teased, though his tone seemed as though he were chiding the shorter woman. Still, Cinder waved the boy off as her side began to shift, her taking Mercury's position, Emerald taking the middle and everyone else moving in a clockwise fashion while Ruby on the other side of the net now prepared to serve, waiting patiently and politely for her adversaries to be set.

Once she was sure they were ready, Ruby proceeded to perform an underhanded serve, holding the game ball in her right hand as she made contact with her dominate left hand, balled into a fist, giving it just enough power to make it over the net. Luckily, given her handedness, the other team thought that this shot would go sideways and go out of bounds, but instead flew over Penny and in front of Weiss, staying less than a foot inbounds. Glynda waved the point for Pyrrha's team as the captain clapped.

Usually, she would be giving her advice to the red-themed teen behind her, telling her to go with her right hand, though Pyrrha knew how tough it was to play while using your non-dominate hand. It was not fun, and even though Ruby was ambidextrous, she was still more of a lefty. So, she'd have to serve as such.

Still, she turned back to her friend and held her hands up to stop play as Ruby caught the ball tossed over by Merc. "Hang on a second." Pyrrha began, catching Ruby's attention, "Try to set up closer to the middle of the court." She whispered, barely loud enough to be heard over the rest of the gymnasium, "You barely stayed inbounds for that ace, I'm afraid the next one will be too far out."

Ruby slowly nodded before sidestepping to her left a little bit, taking the advice to heart. She knew that her friend wasn't being malicious, she just wanted another victory to the record. And let's face it, going undefeated was the goal of today, anyway, so it would be best to heed the warning.

"Three-one, right?" Glynda nodded, confirming the students suspicions as she set up more to the middle of the court, her stance and preparation the same as the serve prior. Another underhanded serve using her left hand for contact sent the ball well over the net and straight ahead, right towards Emerald who had to jump with both of her hands raised in order to save her team from facing another ace. With the power of her fingertips, she sent the ball back to where it came from, but Pyrrha, who was in the way, basically said "No" and with a dig with too much force, sent it back towards Emerald, starting a rally. Em herself got an easy dig on the ball, setting it up for Penny to spike, which the awkward teen did, sending the ball down towards Yang with extreme force. The blonde had nearly no time to prepare, barely getting her left hand on the ball and deflecting it, but unable to stop it from hitting the ground.

Yang found herself to rather annoyed with what just transpired as Pyrrha tossed the ball back to Ruby for the final serve. With a snap of her fingers the blonde quickly reset herself and tried to calm down, shaking away the feeling of dread she had just faced. All the while Pyrrha turned back towards her team's current server with another suggestion: "Try an overhand serve, you might have better results."

"But... I'll send it too far...?"

"Just pull back on your strength, Hercules," The athletic teen teased, "You'll be fine."

"... Alright..." Ruby did as she was told, tossing the ball into the air and smacking it with an open left palm, and even though it was at half strength the orb still went flying past both of the back guards and would have gone out of play, had Mercury not gone after it, saving his team from an easy with a quick dig dive. The ball made contact with his forearms, angled just right to where it could be sent back beyond the net, though he didn't put enough power to it and the ball went flying right into the mesh netting before flopping to the ground. Glynda raised her right hand and blew her whistle, giving Pyrrha's team their fourth point.

"Yes..." Ruby whispered to herself, clutching her left hand into a fist, keeping her face relatively stoic as she shifted to the left side of the court. Pyrrha moved to Yang's spot, Yang to Ruby's, Blake took the middle and Nora took the front-left position. "Four-to-two, still our serve..." Yang picked up the game ball that was thrown to her, Ruby finding newfound confidence in her team. Really, she found confidence in herself, especially after the last two games.

They were comeback wins after being down by two points, two that were really all her fault for missing. But she made up for it with Pyrrha, getting easy setups with the pro-captain and allowing her to make easy spikes. Yang was up to serve the first game and won out with an ace, while Blake came in for a tie-breaking victory in game two, countering a great serve against Jaune's team by making them go after a weak hit and in turn caused them to send the ball into the net. She called it 'baiting', Pyrrha called it tricky. Whatever it was, it worked, keeping the team undefeated.

Which led them to now. Pyrrha's team was still in the lead by two, and had the chance to increase it even more. Ruby, in all fairness, wasn't that good of a server. She was a great striker, and good in literally any other position, but serving wasn't her game. Yang, on the other hand, was wicked good at serving and defense, but striking for her wasn't all that great. She just couldn't maintain the hang time that was required for that level of offense. Pyrrha and Nora both attributed it to being too 'top heavy', but Yang would never agree to that.

Once her team was set up and in position, the blonde tossed the ball straight into the air. Since her team scored the last point, they could keep serving. Considering just who Pyrrha had drafted, it was best if they stayed on the offense, especially since they weren't sure about Blake. Yang leapt up to meet the ball on punched it over the net, towards Mercury in the back. He stepped in and got underneath the orb, his intertwined fingers offering a power boost for the return shot that sailed barely over the top of the net, its momentum stalled momentarily, but Blake wasn't fazed. She got underneath after a quick reset in the middle of the court, rallying the ball upwards with both of her palms and sending it right for Pyrrha. Ruby also stepped in just in case, but it was an easy spike for the Varsity player, who slammed the ball down in open territory on the other side of the net with brutal force.

Glynda raised her hand for a second time in a row as Pyrrha, Ruby and Blake shared a high-five, Penny throwing the ball back to Yang in the backcourt. The blonde caught the thrown object and nodded towards her instructor before taking another shot at the tossed up ball. However, Cinder seemed hell bent on not allowing another point, so she jumped to the net as soon as the ball came over, both of her palms colliding with the orb and stopped it, the force of the collision caused the ball to be sent right in front of Blake, who couldn't react in time to save the point. The ball hit the floor and bounced into the bow-wearing teens hands, who dejectedly sighed and kicked herself for not going for it.

Glynda raised her left hand towards Cinder's team and blew her whistle, acknowledging the point. "Their serve, Blake." She declared, giving the other team a chance to go on offense. The new student nodded and threw the ball back over the net towards the boy in silver. Mercury easily caught it and smirked, now he had three serves, something to his specialty. Merc was a jack of all trades, so to speak, in terms of sports. He could play any position well but didn't care enough to try out for sports in school. Either way, he wasn't to be messed with. Ruby and Pyrrha both nodded to each other and took a step back and in, tightening up the court as they knew what would happen.

"Stay sharp, Blake." Ruby called, trying to keep her friend in the game. Blake nodded and readied herself as Mercury began his serve. In the back of Ruby's mind, all she could consider was the current score, six-to-two. If her team kept playing as they did, it would be a fast win. They were a mere four minutes into the game and already they had such a lead.

The silver-themed boy across the net hit the airborne ball with his fist, taking half a swing to ensure a point. The ball soared over the net and back towards Ruby, who stepped back to get underneath and dug into a shot. The ball moved more towards the middle of the court, where Blake was in position to continue a rally, using both of her palms to keep the ball in play, but it sailed to the left slightly towards Nora. The short chef tried her best to get up for a spike, but she leapt too late and spiked the ball into the net, hitting it with her forearm instead of her hand.

She groaned, running a hand through her orange hair as she kicked the ball back to Mercury. The silver-haired boy picked up the rolling orb and smirked as his score increased. He knew where to go with this next shot: Right in between Ruby and Nora and it's an easy ace. Ruby wouldn't be able to get there in time to save the play and Nora wouldn't be able to get up to stop the shot without making it worse. He committed himself to his plan, tossing the ball upwards and doing another half-powered shot.

The white orb sailed over Nora, arcing at the top of the net and landing three feet in front of Ruby, just barely inbounds. Glynda watched the play unfold and gave the point to the proper team, raising her left hand.

Ruby snapped her fingers in annoyance with herself, knowing that she should have gone for it. She's done it before already today, so why didn't she go then? Maybe she just didn't think about it, instead wanting it go out of bounds, which obviously didn't happen. Oh well, next time.

A big ace for Cinder's team as Merc took the orb, sitting back for a second to gather himself. They were starting to come back, now down by two with barely five minutes left. He readied his next shot, confident that it would be another ace as he proceeded to perform his next shot much like the last, only to have Ruby step in with her hands clasped together, the ball making contact with her forearms and sailing back to the other side of the net, next to Penny but too far for anyone to do anything.

Yang applauded the play as Professor Goodwitch raised her right hand, declaring the score as she knew it. "Seven-Four!" The best part was that it was Yang's serve, and all she had to do was score a point on her last shot of three and her team could win. Pyrrha was up next to serve after her, so she had that going for her.

Cinder's team began to swap positions as Yang awaited the ready signal. Cinder was now in serving position, Penny was in the front left in front of Nora, Emerald was a striker, Weiss was in front of Pyrrha and Mercury was behind the heiress. Yang saw a beautiful chance for three easy points, all she needed to do was aim it in the sweet spot between Weiss, Emerald and Mercury. Or on the other side of the court, provided it wasn't too far back for Cinder to make a play. Despite popular belief, Cinder was very, very athletic and could even rival Pyrrha in skill at this sport. Despite her size, she had a pretty high vertical leap, which made her just as dangerous up close as well as backcourt.

And just like she was, her team was equally as dangerous. Emerald was all over the place, Penny pitched in the school's softball team which... Wasn't nearly surprising, given her powerful arm, and Weiss... Well, despite her delicate touch, the heiress was still an impressive server and was incredibly useful for preparing spikes and power shots for her team. Living a life in high-heels usually gave one an appreciation for being light on their feet.

Yang knew as well as anyone else that this team was never to be underestimated, just like hers. But still, couldn't help but feel confidence in her crew as their lead was by five points with five whole minutes left in class. So far, it looked like a good win.

So far, at least...

* * *

Blake had no idea what just happened... They had a five point lead, and in just a few serves... Gone... They even scored one more to retake the lead but Cinder aced her final serve, which was her fault for not going for in the first place... Given the fact that there was only a minute left on the clock that Port and Goodwitch setup, meant that this would be a tie if not done right.

Just as she considered the possibility of a draw, Goodwitch blew her whistle and ordered both teams to fall in around her. Maybe this would be overtime? The score was eight to eight, and Cinder's team was on a hot streak... Were they really choking this bad? Ruby and Pyrrha made some attempts that fell flat, and both of them knew that it was because they were too far out of sync with each other, at least that's what Ruby excused. Still, to Blake she couldn't help but feel guilt as well. She let a few of those go, herself, she was just as much to blame as anyone else on this team.

"So, we have a tiebreaker match with this much time left, I don't really want to be here forever. So here's what's going to happen." Glynda began as the courts in the surrounding gyms finished their games. "It will be one serve and one serve only. The next point wins. You can take any position you want, it doesn't have to be in correlation to how you were during the game. Understand?" Both teams nodded in acknowledgement as the instructor reached into her pocket and pulled out a coin, "Alright. Call the flip and you're team get's to serve, Miss Nikos. Ready?" Pyrrha nodded and Glynda flung the quarter off of her thumb.

"Heads!"

"Call is heads, and..." The instructor caught the coin and place it in her palm before placing it on the back of her left hand, slowly removing the cover and revealing a face of a historical figure to Vale. "It's heads, alright, you're up." She passed the game ball to the Team Captain as both teams began to take positions. Pyrrha called hers in for a quick huddle as the opposing team waited patiently, a small crowd gathering around the last few games still going on.

"Alright..." Pyrrha sighed carefully, her team anxious to hear their leader speak. "Who wants to serve?"

The team began to peer around each other, each one shrugging, not really looking for the high pressure of the last serve of the day, especially a tie-breaker serve. But Ruby had an idea of sorts. Throughout the day, there had been two people who were top-scoring in terms of serving, Yang and Blake. Both had the most ace's, as well as returnable shots that could be trapped into easy spikes, thus easy points. Clearly nobody was volunteering, so someone had to be volunteered.

"I have an idea." The silver eyed teen calmly said, bringing the groups attention to her.

"Go for it, Hot Stuff." Yang confidently declared, causing Ruby to roll her eyes and shake her head in annoyance.

"I think Yang or Blake should serve." Pyrrha raised an eyebrow with interest, eager to hear more. "They gave us the most points today whenever they served, they clearly have the best aim at it and they can quickly set up to rally if need be."

Blake and Yang both locked eyes, the latter shrugging, not waving off the option. When she thought about it, it was true, both her and Blake were dominate in the backcourt all day, despite this game. Though, it was Blake who opted to take the position, not wanting to leave her friend to a high-priority role.

"I'll do it." The bow-wearing teen finally volunteered, causing both the captain as well as her neighbor to smile.

"Anything else, Ruby?" Pyrrha inquired honestly. Clearly, the youngest member of the group- maybe even the whole graduating class- was on a roll and she didn't want to get in the way. "Go ahead and dictate positions, we'll listen."

Blake marched towards the back right of the court as Ruby began her dictation, oddly confident in her strides. To everyone else on her team, it was like she was a totally different person, but to her, she didn't feel any different. "Nora, sit front right... My right, so left court." The chef smiled sinisterly and nodded, finding an odd sense of hype to go along with her position. "Yang, take front right, Pyrrha will be striker for right now. I'll take back left."

The team captain simply tossed the ball back towards Blake before giving a single, audible clap. "You heard the girl, get going!" The team nodded as they scurried to their given positions, doing as they were told and patiently waiting the serve, for some reasons all smiles. Pyrrha glance around the court and peered back towards Ruby, "This good?"

Nora was in front left, Yang was on the other side, Blake was behind Yang and Pyrrha was in the middle, leaving Ruby in the back left, but more inwards just in case. "Yeah, we're fine." She peered across the net to spy on her opponents, with Cinder at Striker, Weiss and Emerald at front right and left (respectively) and Mercury and Penny in back. This was fine to her, though it's going to be tough. 'Cinder's playing to our weaknesses' Ruby thought before turning towards her neighbor across from her. "Go ahead, Blake."

The bow-wearing teen nodded at the command, sighing cared while tossing the ball into the air. Time seemed to slow and all of the sounds dimmed into nothingness, most games now being completed which meant that most eyes were on this court. This type of attention would make most people buckle in fear, but there was no fear here. No, it was adrenaline, it was excitement. It was a sweet taste of victory being so close...

 _'Jeez, it's a high school gym class game, not the Olympics.'_ Blake chastised herself, _'Get in the game!'_

The ball came down and she smacked it with an open palm, sending her serve clear over the net, having it arc just prior to the mesh and coming down just behind Cinder. At least, it would have, had the short young woman not reached up and tapped the ball back with the tips of her fingers, passing the net and slightly to the right where Nora was waiting, getting a slight dig on it and making an easy spike for Pyrrha.

However, she didn't get as much power on it as she would have wanted. It was aimed in the back right and landed right into Penny's grasp, her powerful right arm doing its work and returning the ball to the sender after diving for the save. Once again sailing over the net and being saved by a certain blonde nurse-in-training.

The rally continued with Yang knocking the ball upwards with her two palms, though it didn't go forward nearly enough, so Blake stepped in, using her forearms and aiming a dig straight and out over the net and to the other side. Pyrrha stepped in as Penny was able to make contact, using a lone right palm to knock the ball more towards the center of the court where Cinder stood. The short young woman served a straight shot upwards, giving an easy spike to Mercury. At least, it would be easy had Nora not been there.

The young chef took a shot right to the chest, the ball hanging in the air long enough for Pyrrha to dive for it with a closed right fist and blasting it back across the net behind her. Ruby watched as Pyrrha hit the ground hard, as did Nora, the former trying to get to her feet as Weiss had an easy dig from way back in her court. "Nice shot, Pyr…" The red-themed teen complimented, but quickly noticed that Weiss' return hit was higher than expected. With Nora and Pyrrha on the ground, nobody was in place to stop the winning point.

Well, almost nobody…

Yang and Blake both scrambled to the center, but it wouldn't matter. Yet, to Ruby… She saw one chance while Pyrrha was on all fours, back to the sky. Ruby rushed up, using her friend as a trampoline and jumping into the air, meeting the ball as it barely sailed over the net and smacking it with a vicious right palm, smacking it towards a certain center standing young woman…

Ruby's feet hit the ground and a sharp pain went up her left side, then her right before finally ending near her back, causing her knees to buckle. She rolled to the ground to avoid a hard landing, and as she crawled to her knees, she noticed that the pain she had just a moment ago was now gone, causing her to believe that maybe it was just the impact of the landing. Silver orbs looked around and saw a mixture of stunned faces to elated expressions, causing her to turn back and see the game ball rolling on the floor. She began to smile, until she saw a figure on the floor, writhing in pain. She was horrified when she realized that the person was Cinder Fall.

A wave of cheers and applause that rose after the amazing play soon ceased when the students realized that someone had taken to the floor. Ruby tried to get to her feet, but a weakness in her legs stopped her in her tracks, so she instead maneuvered to a sitting position, watching as Emerald and Mercury knelt by their friend. Glynda rushed to the side of her student who held the left side of her face.

"You okay?" Yang asked, offering a hand for her younger friend. Ruby turned up in surprise, not expecting anything at this point but accepted the notion and rose to her feet.

"Did… I do that?"

"It's not your fault." The blonde assured, "For Cinder it was literally wrong place at the wrong time, promise." The gang watched as the scene unfolded, though they weren't allowed to for much longer as Professor Port boomed across the gym with his whistle in tow, all the while Cinder slowly moving to a sitting position.

"Haven't you all seen a game injury before?" The man declared, "That's it for gym class today. Congratulations to Miss Nikos' team for making it undefeated, better luck next time for everyone else. You are dismissed to the locker rooms!"

Yang began to practically push Ruby away from the scene, moving around the net and towards the locker as silver eyes stayed glued on the young woman on the ground, getting a concussion test from Professor Goodwitch. Pyrrha tried snapping the young teen out of her trance by trying to get a high-five out of Ruby, but when she realized it and finally connected, it was late and the return was weak. Ruby turned back one more time at the display behind her team before entering the locker rooms, meeting both Weiss' stone cold gaze as well as Emerald's hateful stare, all the while Cinder began to rise to her feet.

"Get going, come on." Pyrrha called back behind her after noticing her friend had slowed down, nearly yanking Ruby into the locker room, "We don't have all day."

Silver eyes blinked rapidly as Ruby shook her head out of her confused trance. "Sorry, sorry, you're right… Thanks."

"Well that was something else!" Yang cheered before tearing her sports shirt off of herself, trying her best to hype up her team after their undefeated victory. She quickly entered the chosen space of lockers she had acquired, sitting on the bench below her own locker with Pyrrha and Ruby working on theirs, a smile on her face as the other two members of the team approached. "Who would've thought that Ruby would be today's MVP?"

"Like there was any doubt?" Pyrrha admonished, catching up to her friend with the aforementioned silver-eyed teen closely in tow, "That's what happens when someone is finally done with putting up with somebody else's crap!" Ruby stayed silent, deeply sighing as she took a seat next to Yang, the blonde currently in the way and sitting in front of her locker. "What's wrong, Ruby? You just won us the game in astounding fashion!"

"It's nothing, Pyr." Ruby assured, keeping a stoic expression, "I'm just thinking is all."

Both the lilac eyed and emerald eyed teens peered at each other, shrugging as Nora and Blake finally rejoined the conversation. "Well, what are you thinking about?" Pyrrha inquired, taking a seat in front of her chosen locker, opting out of changing just yet.

Silver eyes blinked as their owner carefully shrugged, trying to understand just what it was that was concerning her. "I... I guess I'm just a little worried that this might have seriously hurt Ci-"

"Oh, stop it." Yang quickly interrupted, waving her young friend off. "When it comes right down to it, you made a play and someone got hurt from it. That's how sports work, that's how it's all played. It's inevitable! You outplayed them with miss diving board here," She nodded towards Pyrrha while wrapping an arm around Ruby's shoulders, "and now your two-for-two when it comes to challenging them!"

"But I didn't challenge them, though!"

"Nope, they challenged _you_." Blake easily explained, intervening on the conversation as more people began to pour into the locker rooms, nearly filling it to capacity. "And I'm not sure if the issue is so much that you hurt someone in another group, albeit someone you probably don't care much for."

Once again, Pyrrha and Yang locked eyes, the latter turning back after a quick moment towards her black-haired friend, "How do you mean, Blake?"

Amber eyes easily blinked, their owner smirking slightly as she began, "From what I've seen so far, it's easy to assume that Ruby doesn't really care much for what other people think except for the people around her." The target of this examination begged her friend to stop, using both of her hands to make a 'T' for timeout, but Blake didn't care. She would say what needed to be said, "However, she is conscientious about hurting people, specifically the people closest to her. All in all, she's more afraid of doing something that will make you all think less of her, or have a negative opinion of her."

Ruby rubbed the back of her head awkwardly, carefully trying to scoot away and out of Yang's grasp, but the blonde wasn't having it. Yang pulled her friend in close beneath her arm, trying to make sense of what she just heard. "So let me get this straight: Ruby doesn't care for anyone's opinion of her, other than ours?"

"The people closest to her, yes."

"Oh-ho-ho! Blake, thank you for that kind analysis, it was greatly appreciated." Yang said with glee, her assumptions of her younger friend being confirmed. The bow-wearing teen bowed her head before stepping back towards her locker, observing the display across the aisle further. "So, Bu, since you're cover's been blown by your friendly neighborhood... Well, neighbor, why don't you come clean and tell us what's really bothering you?"

"It's nothing."

"Bull."

"I don't believe it, how about you, Nora?"

"Not a chance." The chef declared easily.

"Well, believe it, because I'm not talking."

"Talk or your smelling my pits for the rest of the day."

Pyrrha went wide eyed in horror at the proposition, having a feeling that she may know of what the problem is, intervention might be required soon. "Yang, that's a war crime, right there."

"Whatever gets the prisoner to talk, right?" The lilac-eyed teen winked before turning back towards her stubborn friend. "Now come on, what's up?"

"Yang, I'm telling you, it's-"

"It's me, isn't it?"

All present who were observing the display turned to Pyrrha, who calmly stared at the younger teen still caught in Yang's grasp. Both Silver and Lilac orbs gazed at the athletic teen, eager to hear more. "You're worried that you might've hurt me after that little jump, aren't you?"

"Well... I mean... Yeah..." Ruby dejectedly admitted, breaking eye contact with her red-haired friend.

Pyrrha lightly chuckled before shaking her head, "That actually _does_ explain a lot, thank you Blake." Once again, the black haired teen nodded as she began to change out of her workout attire and into her school uniform, Nora mimicking the action. "Ruby, if anything else I'm proud that you stepped up like that, not because of the win but because that play in itself was gutsy and tricky an you pulled it off so well. I'm impressed at the lengths you went for this, and I'm a little disappointed that you don't go so far that often. Obviously, someone got hurt, and regardless of who it is you should probably apologize for it."

"Well..." Yang shrugged, only to get a stone cold death-stare from Pyrrha. "Eep... Sorry..."

"Anyway, Someone got hurt playing a game. It happens, boohoo sad story. The real story is that these past few days it's like you've been a totally different person, heaven knows why." She quickly glanced back at Blake, but not long enough for anyone but her to know why, "I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm glad you're starting to show a different side of you, regardless of what you did to me back there."

"So... You're not mad?"

"Not in the slightest." The emerald eyed teen assured, "I mean, the boot print in my back will say otherwise, but I'm not upset at all. I'm proud at how far you're willing to go for the team. It shows how much of a player you are."

"And remember," Yang added, "She really took charge in that last game, too, making those calls like that."

"Right! See, Ruby? You did better than even you think!"

The younger teen sat back, still wrapped in her blonde friend's arm with a look of assured realization on her face. Her friends had both managed to open her eyes and tell her that really nothing was wrong with what she did, despite how much blame she wanted to put on herself. Though, she honestly was just trying to figure out what came over her that made her do this? Questions for later...

"I... I guess you're right."

"Of course we are!" Yang clapped with a playful grin, standing up from the bench, noticing that "Now get up and get changed, we've wasted enough time already!"

"You sure have." A new, smooth voice called from behind her. Instantly, Yang recognized the seductive tone of Cinder Fall and turned around with a balled up fist, though was stopped when the black-haired teen raised a lone hand. The group noticed two things wrong with this picture; one, was that Cinder's left hand was occupied by a bag of ice, keeping it up to her left eye, and two, a lack of Weiss or Emerald... Well, the former was to be expected after taking a power shot to the face like Ruby gave, but the latter was the surprising part. "Believe it or not, I'm here on peaceful terms."

"How can we be sure?" Pyrrha inquired honestly, folding both of her hands over each other and keeping it in front of her chest. The short, young woman chuckled with a grin before shaking her head.

"If I was here to start a ruckus, I would have by now." The assurance was... Not well received, but Ruby was the one to calm the fears of both of her taller friends beside her, giving a nod to the team leader before her. "I'm actually here to congratulate you, Ruby. That was a hard fought win you made for your team. I'll let your poor aim slide, though."

"You should be congratulating my team for their work today." The red-streaked teen smirked with a small huff, though tried to keep the attitude in her tone to a minimum as she defended herself and her friends. "And who said my aim was off?"

"Oh my, the silent girl has sass." She removed the pack of ice from her face and turned back towards Blake, golden eyes piercing deep within the bow-wearing teen's soul. "I wonder why that is? Oh well, who am I to make guesses?"

"One of the biggest gossipers in the school?" Yang accused harshly, much to Cinder's delight.

Another rather seductive tone from the short, black-haired teen caused the group to shift uneasily, knowing that this was usually her way of speaking, it was still... Odd... "I guess I'm guilty as charged. Oh well." She shrugged as she walked away, stopping quickly for a moment before turning back to the cornered trio, "Oh, and Rose." Ruby turned back, slowly, locking eyes with the golden-eyed young woman. "Just so you know, next time, you won't be so lucky."

"I'm counting on it... And, uh, I guess I _should_ apologize for that. I honestly didn't mean to... You know..." A simple nod and a stoic expression was accompanied the young teen's words as Cinder smirked as she walked away, leaving the conversation and the group to their own divides. Ruby tried to turn back to her locker, but a few playful shoves by Yang stopped her in her tracks.

"Two and O! Two and O! She's a machine!"

"Calm down, Yang." Pyrrha admonished, coming to her shorter friend's aide. "That wasn't even a fight, let alone a confrontation. That's more trash talk if anything."

"If you wanna call an idle threat trash talking..." Blake huffed under her breath, though only Nora heard it. The chef nodded easily after watching the events unfold, knowing full well the implications of what could happen in the future. Sure, Cinder could take this as a game-time injury, or she could turn it into much more. Not like she hasn't done it in the past... Still, a win is a win, that's all that mattered.

Blake stood back, having already changed out during the aforementioned confrontation and is now ready to go in her school uniform, but continued to do what she did best and observed the group of new friends that she had acquired, happy with her choice if she had to be honest. These girls were easily the far different than her earlier assumption, especially Pyrrha. She had gone above and beyond Blake's own assessment with what she told Ruby just a few moments ago, assuring the teen that there really wasn't any issues with what happened during the Volleyball game.

Glynda ran passed everyone, hauling ass towards the door, though Blake ignored it as her thoughts carried over to Yang, who was still shirtless- though thankfully her bra was doing its job- and impeded Ruby's attempt to get changed as she was celebrating a victory of sorts. There must be something more to this rivalry between Cinder and Yang, this has to go deeper than what Blake's been led to believe, but what? Maybe this is a question for later, and also someone may want to intervene on the scuttle between Yang and Ruby, the former doing her best to block the latter from getting into her locker. Ruby really did have a fiery personality, and it showed through the cracks of her shy exterior... or perhaps, maybe it was just how she acted around Yang and the others? Even with Velvet, the silver-eyed teen seemed to be more polite and stiff rather than loose like now.

Despite the hilarious scuffle Blake was witnessing now, she couldn't help but notice another one at the entrance to the locker rooms, Glynda slamming and locking the door, the only way in or out of the room. The resounding impact caused many to stop what they were doing and glance over at their instructor, who had a calm face, though rather panic stricken eyes as she held a walkie-talkie in her hand.

"Whoa, what's this?" Yang inquired, finally releasing Ruby and walking in the path of her teacher, who practically blew her off and charged back into her office. "What the...? Teach, what's going-?"

A loud beep came over the intercoms above, once again silencing a rather uneasy locker room. A not-so-familiar voice came over the speakers, calm and collected, easily speaking. "Attention all students and staff, this is Headmaster Ozpin with an important notice."

* * *

 **Yeah, how annoying was that all to read, huh? At least until the end of the game, after that, I'm pretty happy with myself.**

 **So what have we here at the end, huh? Blake ratting out Ruby to her friends using her apparent findings over the last few days, and Glynda turning the locker rooms into a lock-in event? I wonder what's going to happen (as if I don't already know). And no, I did NOT make Cinder's eye get smacked with the full force of Hell because of the show. Honest to god, that was planned weeks ago, it just... Kinda fell into place... Yeah, that's believable, right?**

 **For going through all of that, I'll give you a little hint as to next chapter. It's a chapter that will show more about how Yang, Nora and Pyrrha feel about Blake, as well as how Blake feels about Ruby and the rest of the gang, we might even have some more of her observations of the school at large and see just how far off she is or not. We also might get a sneak peak into Velvet and Coco and their plans for Blake, as well as Nora's work at the restaurant. And, as a special treat, next chapter will NOT be cut down to any length unless it exceeds FIFTEEN THOUSAND words. That's right, 15,000. Give or take a thousand or two. I'll go all out for you guys for putting up with this hot mess of shit. I cannot apologize enough, so I'll treat you guys next time. Given work and school, I'm gonna need some time, so say, about this time in about 2 weeks should be the extravaganza.**

 **Anyway, I've rambled and promised enough, I should ask how you guys felt about that one? Personally... Shit, you know how I feel about it. But I wasn't going to slide this under the rug, this game was too important to pass up. The rest was fodder trash that didn't matter, but I can touch up on those games in the future, and to be honest probably will. Also, give a little hint as to what you want to see next chapter, and we'll see just how right or not you are! I like playing that game, "Guess what happens next!" In these event, guess why Glynda shut the doors!**

 **As always, if you have any questions, go ahead and shoot me a PM! I always respond, sometimes I need some time but I always get to it. Anyway, I've rambled enough.**

 **Until Next Time.**


	9. Lock it Down

**Wow, was this a bitch to write! I legitimately stayed up for a few nights, shirked SO many responsibilities in order to get this done, but I still enjoyed it up until the end. That being said, I hope you take notes because we've got a +17k word chapter ahead! Not much else I can say on it, as it's left me mentally drained, but hopefully the story will speak for itself.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Everyone began to glance around at each other, some covered rather unmentionable parts with towels or quickly got changed, but others like Yang didn't really care, and intently listened to the announcement. "The school will be initiating Lockdown Protocols effective immediately until further notice."

Those words made students either panic slightly, or at the very least begin conversing with each other. Ruby physically stiffened before locking eyes with Yang, then Blake, who had honestly no idea what was going on. "I wonder what _this_ is about." One girl huffed nearby, which was honestly something Blake wanted to know as well. Still, above the voices of her classmates and through the bow atop her head, she was still able to make out a few words from her headmaster, her bow inadvertently twitching as she did so.

"Though we believe the school is not in any direct threat, the police department of Vale of ordered us to initiate these methods just in case. When we have more information, the teachers will pass it on to the students. This will be the last communication made over the intercoms until further notice." With that, the man cut the comms out, which sparked a mass amount of conversations to take place within the enclosed space.

At least until Goodwitch and her trusty whistle intervened, silencing all present and hurting the ears of those closer to the instructor. Even though Blake was one whole unit of lockers over from it, the ringing still pierced her ears harshly. "Listen up!" The blonde instructor declared, gaining the attention of her students, "What we have is a police situation taking place down the road with a barricaded gunman. We are not evacuating for multiple safety reasons, so until the police can de-escalate the situation and render everything safe, we will not be moving anywhere or doing anything, so get comfortable and try to keep quiet."

"Wait," Yang began her honest inquiry, "Not trying to justify rowdy play or anything, but if the situation is down the road, why do we have to be quiet now?" A few other students agreed with the question, honest as it was, and Glynda took it to heart before answering.

"Because, Miss Xiao Long, we are in an enclosed space and it can be very, very loud in here. I'd like to have my hearing intact by the end of today, thank you." Yang accepted the answer and stepped back, "And please put a shirt on."

"What? I've got something on over it!"

"Not nearly enough." Ruby quipped behind Yang's back, causing the blonde nurse-in-training to turn back with a fury in her eyes so fast she should have whiplash, forcing the red-head to jump in cover behind the taller red-head beside her, who couldn't help but chuckle at the response of Yang.

"If there aren't any other questions, then get comfy. If you want to speak to me at any point I'll be making the occasional rounds."

Blake noticed how easily Glynda ignored the play-fight of Yang and Ruby prior as well as the one taking place now, Pyrrha offering no protection for her friend. Was this kind of thing really so common? A nudge on her shoulder brought the black-themed teen out of her stupor, glancing to her left she noticed that it was Nora that made contact initially, having now changed out of her gym attire and into her proper school uniform. "Wanna stop this?" The short chef asked, noting Blake's intent viewing of the party before them.

Yang had just gotten her hands on Ruby's gym shirt, yanking the younger teen back into a familiar headlock, only this time she was raised into the air by Yang, with an arm around her small abdomen to avoid serious harm, making it more like a constricting hug. "Think I'm showing off too much, huh?"

"Y-yeah! I do!"

Blake leaned in to whisper into Nora's ear, "I'm not getting involved, I'd like to live a little longer." The shorter teen giggled as they joined Pyrrha on the sidelines, who had just began to change into her school clothes. Meanwhile, Yang finally brought Ruby to a seated position, the shorter teen being forced to sit beside the still shirtless wonder that was her busty friend. Still, someone had to back Ruby right, right? "I think Ruby has a point, Yang." She admonished, earning a glare from two lilac orbs.

"I like you Blake, and I don't want to hurt you. Just ask Ruby how this is?"

"Her headlocks are like iron and her pits are like pure garlic!"

"That is _not_ fair!"

"It is." Pyrrha quickly defended. "If you don't want to be insulted like that, don't participate in the rough housing until you've washed up."

"I agree." Nora called, Blake offering a quick nod as Yang dejectedly released her captive yet again, who quickly scurried away from the nurse in training to avoid another vice-grip.

"You'll all take her side over this!?"

"Easily." Pyrrha nodded, the rest of the group agreeing, causing the blonde to drop her shoulders dejectedly and sigh, giving Ruby the proper space to change out finally. The silver-eyed teen went right to work on her lock, finding far easier to break into it than her school-appointed one. In one go, she unlocked the chain and removed it from the handle, allowing her to open her locker quickly as Yang finally began to change out and went into her class uniform, much to her friend's thanks. Ruby generally didn't care for her friend's constant sub-nudity, actually quite used to it from Yang. The blonde always had an open personality, which made this more usual than not for her. Still, she understood if her friends weren't all that comfortable with her doing what she does, and if Ruby was complaining about it than other people would probably take offense.

Finally reaching into her locker, Ruby went right for the pocket of her school uniform and checked her phone for any messages as she drifted away from the conversation, the world around her growing more and more silent as she paid less and less attention. There were two messages for her, one from Neo and one from Velvet, both of whom knew that she was in gym class and probably couldn't answer right away, but the notification said that these two were fairly recent.

Neo's text came up first, being the second one received. _'Are you okay? The news said you were put on lockdown?'_

A small smile grew on the young flowers face as she began to respond, "Fine, no threat, just precaution." Short and sweet, staying well within the text limit. She hit send and moved onto her friend's text, honestly pondering just what is what the faunus could want.

Velvet's message came up after a moment of loading on the old flip phone: ' _You ok?'_

Ruby quickly went to work sending the next message. _'Yes, y? How r u?'_

She hated using text speak, but had no other choice due to the one-hundred-sixty letter limit per each message. Luckily, she was on Junior and Neo's unlimited plan, which meant that she could send and receive as many messages as she wanted.

Two messages quickly came back, the same two people as before. She decided to read Neo's message first, now having the option to, at least. "Okay, stay safe. Call when you're coming home."

The red-themed teen tabbed over to the next message, though as she waited for it to load up, she felt a nudge on her right shoulder. Turning her gaze towards a familiar blonde on her right, "Did you hear anything that I said?" Yang asked in a mildly accusing tone.

"Huh? Oh, no, sorry."

Lilac eyes closed as the blonde sighed, causing Ruby to mildly blush in embarrassment. "Jeez, gotta pay attention, Ru."

"Knock it off, Yang." Nora easily chided, coming to her friend's rescue. "We weren't talking about anything important, anyway."

Pyrrha's emerald orbs glanced sarcastically at the nurse across from her, "Yeah, Yang. What did she ever do to you?"

"Ignored me, that's what she did."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Yang." Ruby sarcastically quipped, "But I can't help it when someone wants to talk to me."

"Pft, kids and their technology."

"Wow, you're starting to sound like my parents." Nora quipped, moving her backpack to behind her and using it as a pillow, almost.

"I'm just saying she's gotta pay attention to her surroundings."

"I'm not driving, Yang!" Ruby defended, "Neo wants to know what's going on. Apparently, this situation made the news."

"That doesn't surprise me." Pyrrha commented, "The best academy in the capital goes into lockdown is gonna raise some attention. Has she said anything about this?" Ruby shook her head, still on her phone and texting something to someone. "Oh well. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out." She pulled out her scroll and lit the screen up, "I'll see if I can get updates from home."

"Geez, Pyrrha! Not you, too! See what you did, Ru!"

"Oh no, I started a technology craze." The young teen quipped sarcastically, "Because this wasn't already a thing before! _So_ scary!"

Yang, clearly taking offense at her friend's tone of voice, pulled her into a headlock while she sat comfortably in the corner, propping her legs and sitting sideways to the rest of the group, her left side pointing towards the group. Ruby was caught under Yang's powerful left arm and, instead of trying to fight it, decided to go along for the ride and propped her legs on the middle bench, putting her back towards the blonde and using her as a pillow of sorts. Yang kept her arm around the red-themed teen as she peered around the group. Pyrrha and Nora, being used to these antics out of the blonde, were just thankful that it wasn't them in her grip. However, one that stood out was Blake, who wasn't sure just what to make of the sight before her.

"What's up, Blake?" Yang inquired honestly, "Wanna join?" The bow-wearing teen blushed as she peered away awkwardly, only to be met by Yang's giggles. "I'm just kidding, I've got my hands full with this one right now."

"Which you don't have to be, you know?"

"Yeah? Then how will I teach you a lesson in manners?"

Pyrrha decided now is the best time to interrupt, "Yang, you've been teaching Ruby the _complete_ _opposite_ of manners since you first met her. Going back on your own words?"

"Yes, I am."

"I know right from wrong, Yang."

"And yet you still run your mouth?"

"Two reasons." Ruby closed her phone, holding it in her left hand while using her free right hand to give numbers. Her index finger stood out, marking her first point. "One is that you always seemed to enjoy it when I 'run my mouth'."" Her middle finger joined her index finger, "And two is I know I can get away with it."

"Is that so?" The question held a more… Sinister tone to it, causing silver eyes to go wide with concern. The trio across the box eyed Yang, then Ruby, then back to Yang, almost as if they knew something was going to go down.

"Y-Yang?" Ruby called, slowly looking upward at the stoic expression of her friend, "You okay?"

"I am. Can't say that you will be, though."

"… Eep."

Blake carefully watched as the stare down between the duo before her began, waiting for something to happen, for a reason to intervene. That is, if her friends would let her. She had to keep reminding herself that this group is far different than what she's used to, and that Ruby has found a group of individuals who were either easy to conform to, or were already her type of people. Even Pyrrha surprised her, given what she had been told Blake expected more of a sharp tongue out of the athletic teen. She seemed annoyed during the game earlier, but the black-haired girl was willing to give her the pass on that.

The stare down quickly ended with nothing happening, Ruby opting to look away while Yang just let it slide. Despite everything that was said earlier, it was nice to see everything end without the need for violence for once, even a playful sense. Still, Yang kept the younger teen by her side, her left arm firmly around Ruby's abdomen, as if she were protecting the young girl from something, stopping her from moving for some reason. Was it just her protecting nature, or was there something else that Yang was worried about that Blake couldn't see. Either way, Blake was in no position to question it, as Nora confirmed through whisper that something like this happened all the time, only sometimes it wasn't Ruby that was the only victim.

Just like she mentioned to herself in her earlier assessment, Blake put another mental note by Yang: Touchy-feely, clearly open about herself in more than one way, doesn't care for other people's thoughts… Man, this entire group found new ways to surprise her.

A buzzing in her pocket alerted the bow-wearing teen to her scroll, quickly pulling it out to see an unknown number had texted her. _'We should probably talk, soon.'_

Blake, dumbfounded, quickly texted back, 'Who is this?'

' _Nobody important. I know you and that's all that matters.'_ Was the quick response, only to be met by a second, even faster text to come in, _'I'm in the school too, I'm a friend of your neighbors. You have questions, so do we. When this event is over, I'll tell you where to meet and we'll discuss a few things.'_

' _Velvet?'_

' _Wrong :)'_. This person was _really_ getting on her nerves, but Blake almost instantly knew who it was and just what this was about.

' _I agree, but we'll need to make it fast for reasons, if we want to do it without her knowing.'_ Her in this case being Ruby.

' _You won't need to worry, I'm sure Yang or Pyrrha will have something in mind after the lockdown ends. I'll explain more later, meet at the spot where Ruby wrecked up Emerald.'_

Blake gave an affirming text back and pocketed her phone, going back to the discussion at hand. At least, she tried to, but listening to Pyrrha try to reason with Ruby- Instead, she tried to wonder just how Coco got her phone number in the first place? She had Velvet hadn't exchanged numbers, and she never really got to talk to Coco the day before anyway… Could Ruby have given her number out? She's the only other person who would have it, so it makes sense…

What could they want to talk about?

* * *

"So," Emerald began, "What are you going to do to get payback?"

Cinder raised her right eyebrow as she removed the melting ice pack. The swelling had gone down, but a red mark still remained. "What are you talking about?"

"You know! Getting back at _them_ for what they did to you!"

Weiss and the black-haired young woman locked eyes, the former shrugging before taking over for her friend. "I thought it was a clean hit."

"I actually agree, Weiss." Cinder easily added, "You could see she was affect by tunnel vision, I don't think it was malicious at all. Just the look in her eye, there was no way she was aiming." Emerald went wide eyed in surprise. Cinder, of all people, giving them of all people a pass after this physical attack?! What!? "Now, if this was Yang or Pyrrha, I'd agree with you, Em. But I watched Ruby throughout that entire play. She did nothing wrong."

The red-eyed girl couldn't believe her ears. Of all the people to defend their sworn enemies, Cinder would be the one to do it!? What was happening today? "So... We're just going to let this slide?"

"Yes we are. I'm able to recognize an accident, Emerald, I'd suggest you should too." The red-eyed teen pouted with a huff, glancing away from the duo beside her, causing Weiss to shrug. "I'm just disappointed that the poor girls wrapped up in the wrong group. I fear that Yang alone is a bad influence, but adding Pyrrha and that Nora girl into the mix?" Cinder whistled as she sat back into the cold metal locker, "Those _aren't_ the best role models."

"Like we are?" The heiress to her right inquired with a smirk, only to receive a curious gaze from both of her friends. "I'm just saying that, considering her overall attitude, maybe it's best that she has the group that she has. She wouldn't do too well with us in high society."

"I think if we had a chance to mold her, we could not only make her a prim and proper young lady- like you, for instance, Weiss- but also set her up for the success that we're destined for."

Emerald, in severe annoyance, rolled her eyes and leaned forward, "Good luck with that." She huffed under her annoyed breath, only to receive a slap to the back of her head from Cinder. She quickly turned her head to face the offending attacker, only to meet sharp golden eyes piercing her soul.

"If you have something to say then you can very well say it to my face, Emerald. But if you don't have the guts to do it, then keep your mouth shut." With a sly look of inspiration, she turned her gaze to the alabaster heiress on her right and raised an eyebrow, "Actually," She began, quietly, "I think she may be right. Ruby would be a tough cookie to handle, unless..."

Both Emerald and Weiss eyed each other, shrugging after a glance. "Unless?" Weiss inquired, "Want to finish that?"

"How about we make this _interesting_?"

* * *

Over an hour had passed and most of the locker room had calmed down greatly, though had grown more and more uncomfortable as the temperature rose. Information over the unfolding story had found its way to the news and reports were that it was two individuals being involved in a domestic incident. One suspect pulled a knife and the other pulled a gun. A neighbor working outside heard the confrontation and called police, and now both individuals are busy being locked in their own house and working against the SWAT team. Amazing how quickly people can get along when they're in trouble.

Of course, them being locked in, armed and possibly dangerous, meant that these students would have to stay locked in, as well. Fine by them, no class, no work. Easy day... Save for the smell of a locker room, of course.

Over the course of the past hour both Ruby and Yang had passed out, the former going first and using Yang's left should as a pillow, per the blonde girl's instruction. Ruby tried her best to take up as little space as possible, curling up into a tight ball and moving her body so that most of her weight was leaning back into the nurse behind her. However, the small bench wasn't enough for her, and she almost slipped off a few times; luckily Yang kept her arm around her friend's abdomen. Instead of falling away, Pyrrha, who was still sitting comfortably in the corner, assured her friend that, though the room would be nice, it wasn't needed and that she was comfortable where she sat, so Ruby ended up sitting back into Yang's shoulder, her legs propped up like before on the bench.

Once she was situated, it only took a few minutes for Ruby to fall asleep. Luckily, the warm locker room (which had been gradually heating up over the course of the hour) and the unusual silence gave some much needed help. Yang herself had been reading something off of her scroll with her free right hand, her left being occupied by the red-themed teen. The blonde worried that the teen would be sore after sleeping in a seated position like that, but thought that a quick power nap wouldn't cause too much concern. In fact, Ruby may have the right idea, as Yang could feel a sense of drowsiness wash over her. She closed her device, the screen going black, and tucked it away in her pocket as she tilted her head back into the locker behind her, finding an embrace of sleep rather quickly.

Blake and Nora watched how easily it was for both of their friends to find sleep. Normally Ruby would be the last one to be tired, per her usual energetic self, but it gave Nora time to think that maybe she's only so hyper because she is well-rested? Blake knew, she had done a lot of research into the human mind and psychology, but Nora and Pyrrha could only think and admire the sight before them. To the athletic, emerald eyed teen, she considered that perhaps this was what Yang's approach was: Love and a caring attitude to bring out the best in Ruby, rather than trying to force her out of her shell.

As she considered her options, Pyrrha turned to her new friend simply with a single inquiry. "How're you doing, Blake?" The question caught the bow-wearing teen off guard, but she snapped into it quickly to see emerald green eyes curiously staring at her. "I know it's been a weird second day for you and all..."

The amber-eyed teen shook her head easily, "Trust me, I've had weirder."

"I'd get used to the abnormality if I were you, Miss Belladonna." The group peered around to face the owner of the new voice in the conversation, Professor Goodwitch, who stayed standing in the middle of the aisle. "With this group that's all you'll get."

"And what's that supposed to mean, Miss Goodwitch?" Nora cried in mock hurt, though the instructor was unfazed.

"I think you know exactly what I mean by that, Miss Valkyrie." The student turned away in a playful huff as the woman turned to Pyrrha, who raised an eyebrow. "I was hoping to talk to you and Miss Rose over there, but I can see that she is... Preoccupied, at the moment."

Pyrrha raised her hand, "In her defense, Yang literally pulled her into that."

"I'd believe it." Glynda affirmed with a nod, leaning into the side of the lockers beside Blake, "Yang likes to be very close with people, and something like that doesn't surprise me. The fact that Ruby _allowed_ it is shocking to me, though. She doesn't strike me as the touchy-feely person."

Blake shook her head, trying to clear her mind that cried out that neither of the group members knew what they were talking about, but instead chose to keep the conversation on point. "I don't think she really had a choice." She simply said, "Besides, they look rather comfortable."

"Who am I to judge?" Goodwitch asked to nobody in particular, shrugging as she stood upright. "Can't blame anyone for getting some sleep when they can, right?" The group nodded slightly as their instructor peered back to the conscious red-head before her. "Miss Nikos, sometime between whenever Miss Rose wakes up and whenever we leave, could you bring her to me? There's something I wish to discuss with you two."

"If it's about her using me as a trampoline, I honestly don't care about that!"

Glynda held up her hand with a smirk, "No need to worry, she's not in any trouble for that. Cinder already waived her rights to take any action. Though what we're going to discuss is related to that in a way... It's no big deal now, just let me see you two before you leave, okay?"

The emerald eyed teen nodded to her instructor, allowing the older woman to depart. Once sure that Goodwitch was gone, Pyrrha began to ponder just what the discussion could be about. If her friend wasn't in trouble, then why was she needed? Could it be… Well, Ruby did show athletic prowess out there. Perhaps… It could be an option.

She glanced around the space at her clearly uncomfortable friends, Nora having been sitting in patient silence for so long that it was almost scary to see. Blake, on the other hand, was reading a book she pulled out of her backpack, a small story with a blank cover, though every now and again glanced up to look at Yang and Ruby.

Something was clearly bothering her, and it was just how Yang was acting. It's easy to understand if someone was just really friendly, but this seemed a tad too far. For the last half-hour Blake had carefully watched, ensuring that Yang didn't try any funny business, but was surprised when she realized that both of them were out like lights. The silence in the locker room grew to low whispers and some chuckles between friends, but this particular group had been silent since Ruby dozed off. Pyrrha had been eyeing an app on her scroll that was receiving news updates to the situation outside, but she put it away when she realized her battery life was suffering. When her emerald eyes glanced up at her new friend, she chuckled lightly, causing Blake and Nora to turn to her.

"Like what you see down there, Blake?" The bow-wearing teen rolled her eyes at the familiar quip, shaking her head silently. "You've been watching them for a while now, something wrong?"

The topic of the conversation shook her head simply, "No, it's fine."

"Keeping a watchful eye over your neighbor?" The comment was said in a teasing tone, but Pyrrha wasn't going to end it there. Neither would she push the teasing envelope anymore either, since Ruby didn't like it too much and Blake didn't seem like the kind of person who would willingly take anyone else's crap. "It's okay, Yang's doing the same."

Amber eyes glanced towards the slim athletic teen in the corner seat before their owner raised a quizzical brow. "How do you figure?" Maybe there was some truth to it, but if there was then she couldn't see it. All Blake saw now was two of her friends asleep, side by side.

"Yang's always been a very protectful person." The emerald-eyed athlete easily explained, "She would literally go out of her way to keep somebody else happy and safe and comfortable, regardless of how she feels." Blake turned her gaze back to the slumbering blonde, whose light snoring was carefully getting louder, "In terms of Ruby, she's a totally different person. Couldn't explain it, but she just turns into an older sister, you know?"

"Or a guard dog." Nora quipped quickly, only to be lightly kicked by Pyrrha.

"That's Coco's job. No, Yang wants to be more than that. She wants to be a nurse, so hospitality must be her thing. I guess having Ruby for a friend helps with that training."

"You make it sound like she's just this helpless little kid, though."

"Yeah, and that's the problem sometimes. We just see her as just that: A kid, someone who's younger than us. We don't see until it's too late that she's probably the smartest of us all and can handle herself, we just see her as a kid in a private, college prep academy. And before you say it, I know, it's not fair." Pyrrha shrugged with a careful sigh, "That's kinda why I say what I say to Ru, I want to treat her like I would anyone else, but I guess that wasn't well received."

Blake was about to speak up, but a certain orange haired chef took offense to her friend's tone, quickly turning her head with a spiteful look in her eyes. "Hold on a second." She began with slight malice, "You weren't treating her like everyone else, Pyr, some of the things you were saying were pretty rude and harsh. A few times you insulted her landlords, the people she's working for daily to reduce her rent." The bow on top of Blake's head twitched at those words, noting a small inconsistency with the story she knew. "Another time you full on insulted Ruby's mother, who you never even met. You made her cry with that!"

"And she wonders why we treat her like a kid sometimes…"

"Pyrrha! You can't possibly justify that! You can't sit here and say you want to treat her like everyone else when you clearly don't! You're the biggest offender in belittling your own friend!" Both Yang and Ruby started to stir as Nora's nearly quiet-enough rant went into full force. The chef noticed this and turned her attention towards the earlier point, just so Ruby wouldn't concern herself with the groups issues. "Besides, Blake, this wouldn't be the first time this scene happened, you know." Nora said easily, throwing her arms back behind her head as she tried to regain her composure. The black-haired teen beside her paid close attention, noting just how and questioning why they changed the subject back, instead of getting the others involved. If there's an issue, shouldn't the confront the problem? Or is that what they're doing now? "Remember that one day during the summer that Yang gave Ruby food poisoning?"

"Wait, what!?"

"It wasn't food poisoning, Nora." Pyrrha admonished, "But it was very close to it."

The blonde in question began to stir further, having heard her name be mentioned, but Blake didn't care. She wanted answers and luckily both of her conscious friends were more than ready to give some. Nora started first as she noticed a raised eyebrow from the amber-eyed girl. "Okay, so one day we were at Yang's house spending the night, right? It's a usual habit of ours, every two or three weeks it happens. Well, instead of going out or letting me cook, Yang decided she would take her chance at it."

Yang's eyes opened and she turned her head towards her friends curiously, listening in on the story being told and sighing loudly when she realized just what it was. "She either undercooked the food or burned it to a crisp."

"That's not _entirely_ true..."

"Ruby bit the bullet and took the undercooked food, and... Well, let's just say she spent the better half of the night in occupying the bathroom, offering the contents of all of her internal organs."

Mouth agape, Blake began to eye Yang, who then received the gazes of all of her friends while she tightly wrapped her arms around Ruby, keeping the slumbering girl in a hug. "I'm... Not a good cook."

"I can tell." Blake quipped with a smirk, "So what happened next?"

"Luckily Ruby has a strong stomach, so after she threw up the first time she just stayed in immense pain for the rest of the night."

"Luckily?"

"Lesser of two evils, really." Yang reasoned, "I felt so bad that I never let her out of my sight once that night. I didn't even sleep; I was so afraid that something would happen that she stayed by my side all night."

"Like the mother she is."

Yang threw a sock from her open locker at Pyrrha, firing back for her insolence while Nora took over before anyone could bring in any more input, "After that we determined that Yang is no longer allowed to cook. I think she was afraid to call Ruby, too, for a couple of days."

"Oh my god, it was so embarrassing!"

Silver eyes cracked open at the commotion- really, it was her pillow's rapid and sudden movement that caused her to wake up- and rubbed her eyes in annoyance. "What was so embarrassing, Yang?"

The blonde refused to comment, instead opting to just pat her friend on the cheek, while Ruby tried to move her stiff body, but failed to under Yang's grip. "Just go back to sleep, Ru, it's fine."

"No, no, I insist." The red-themed teen declared, her bangs hanging in front of her eyes, barely covering her vision. "I heard my name a few times, I want to know what I did that could humiliate the so-called 'un-embarrass-able'." Yang's head tilted back, her lilac eyes closed as she took a deep breath, slowly exhaling. "Oh, the time you tried to cook and wouldn't call me for like, a week?"

"Yes! Yes, the time I tried to cook! Yes, there, happy?"

"Very."

"God damnit, get off me." The blonde began to forcibly push Ruby off of her, the still drowsy girl rubbing her eyes as she stumbled from her seat. Luckily, Pyrrha offered the corner seat she once occupied, moving down to the middle of the bench, giving her young friend a place to regain her bearings. "You overstayed your welcome."

"Wait, you pulled me into that?"

"Yeah, and you disrespected the hostess, so…"

"I didn't hear any disrespect." Ruby shrugged as Pyrrha slid down, giving her young friend a place to sit now that there was room, "Did you, Blake?" The bow-wearing teen shook her head and shrugged, causing Ruby to giggle, "How 'bout you, Pyr?"

"Nah."

"Oh, come on! You guys are all traitors!" Yang declared, jumping from her seat with fresh energy and walking away in a huff, "I don't have to take this!"

"Where else will you go?" Pyrrha questioned, but received no response as the blonde walked down towards the center of the locker rooms where the instructor's office was, leaving the group in a curious state. However, seeing the lights on from the office space that was just passed a divider wall caused a memory to be jogged in Pyrrha's head. "Oh, crap, Ruby, come with me." She took her friend by the hand and before anyone could say anything began pulling the young teen towards Goodwitch's office, feeling the rush of cool air escape the vent as they passed. Both teens were thankful as the enclosed space was really starting to heat up in the last few minutes alone.

"Pyr, what's this about?!"

"Goodwitch wants to talk to you." The athletic teen said matter-of-factly, nearly tossing her friend into the office space. "Now get going."

The room was a small box, just enough for a safe and a file-cabinet with a desk at the end, a window was on the same wall that the door was on, leaving whoever was within a way to observe so that nothing nefarious could happen. Glynda sat at the desk, on the phone with somebody as Ruby stumbled in, able to regain her balance while Pyrrha leaned against the threshold of the door. Their instructor gave them the index finger, telling them to be patient with her.

"Well, how long are they saying? Uh-huh… Okay, and? I-I need something else, you can't just expect me to keep all of these kids in this room, the air barely circulates in here, it's going to suck, to put it simply." She reasoned with annoyance, "I-I, listen, hey, I know you're trying your best, but if we're going to be stuck on lockdown for another… However long we've got, then I owe it to these kids to get them to an area where they won't suffer a damn heat stroke!" Her tone was now one of anger and fury, startling both of the students in her presence, "And when can they get down here? Good." She slammed the phone down and sighed deeply, "Raging jackass." She slowly turned towards Pyrrha, a lone eyebrow raised.

"Everything okay, Professor?" The emerald-eyed teen inquired, facing the stone gaze of the blonde instructor.

"You tell me." Glynda simply replied. "Didn't think I saw you push Miss Rose in here, did you?"

"O-oh… Oh, yeah, uh…"

"What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Sorry, Ruby." The taller teen said, rubbing her arm as she broke her at-attention stance awkwardly.

The silver eyed teen shook her head furiously, "No, no it's okay, we were just playing, it's fine."

Glynda rolled her eyes calmly, knowing the student couldn't be angry if she tried. "Whatever, Pyrrha close the door." The student did as she was told as the instructor nodded towards a folding chair behind Ruby, who got the memo and pulled up the seat quickly as Pyrrha went back to leaning against the closed door, keeping people out who didn't need to be involved. "Well, this seems all too familiar, now doesn't it?"

A small smile rose on Ruby's face, causing her to turn away to regain her composure as a sense of déjà vu washed over her. "Yeah, it does, almost." She eyed Pyrrha, then her professor before carefully speaking her next words. "Am… Am I in trouble, or… Something?" Her voice failed towards the end of her question, causing Glynda to smirk as she turned back towards her computer, shaking the mouse and bringing up a black and white video. The screen showed several people on either side of a net, and it didn't take her long to realize that it was video from their last game of volleyball. Yang had just sent the ball back, Pyrrha was on her knees and the ball had just been sent back over the net towards her team. Ruby watched as a short member from the back corner use the grounded teammate as a step-stool almost, as she leapt into the air and spiked the ball hard into the face of some poor girl on the opposite side.

Ruby was stunned as she watched the event unfold, but she never got a chance to see it end as Goodwitch paused the video before turning back to her student's stunned expression. "Did… Did I do that? Was that me?"

The blonde instructor nodded slowly, her face stoic and careful. "Yes, you did, and it was very impressive to watch, wasn't it?"

"When did I-? I'm so confused."

Pyrrha and Glynda both locked eyes before glancing back towards the girl before them. "You mean to tell me that you don't remember doing any of that?" Ruby shook her head as Goodwitch pondered further, "Interesting. Your body must have taken over and committed to the play instead of thinking about it. That's muscle memory, young lady, and not many people have it so well ingrained with themselves without prior training or practice. You're a natural."

Now, Ruby was even more confused, and her face showed it. Pyrrha decided this was the best place to step in. "Ruby, what you did out there was nothing short of amazing. More so, I think you were in control, I just don't think _you_ realized it. If we can hone that, then you might be the best player in the kingdom, let alone the school."

"What?"

Professor Goodwitch, having enough of the game of semantics, reached out and took Ruby's hand, her wheeled chair sliding closer to the younger student. "Ruby, we have a proposition for you."

* * *

Yang walked out of the stall and into the locker room again, her freshly washed hands still wet due to a lack of paper towels or air dryer, but she didn't really care. She had a small cloth towel in her locker, just in case she had a hard-days' work in gym. As she passed by the instructor's office, noting that the light was on, but the door was closed. In the window, she saw Pyrrha's hair, kept out of a ponytail since the lockdown began, blocking a view. Before she walked away, the blonde could see a familiar figure seated on a folding chair in the middle of the small space, a busty blonde woman in front of this person. Was that Ruby? Why was Goodwitch talking to her with Pyrrha in the room? Was Ruby in trouble for earlier?

There was no way for her to find out right now, as the door was closed. Plus, it wouldn't be her place to just barge in like that. Actually, it really wasn't her place to be concerned about this, but she was a naturally curious person, hence how she knew so much about the human body, both insides and out. Her father always said it was better to be well educated than too curious to tell.

Yang shook her mind free of her thoughts and walked back towards her friends, passing a few groups of people that had been whispering amongst themselves about nothing in-particular. She did hear somebody talk about the heat in the room getting to be rather unbearable, even with the vents now working, which Yang could agree to. The room had slowly heated up, when she started her power nap it couldn't have been more than eighty degrees. Now, it was starting to break one-hundred, easy. Still, she walked on and back to her space, finding two quiet, occupied friends of hers.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" She accused as she stood with her hands on her hips, her tone in a playful chastise. Blake was reading a book she pulled from lord knows where and Nora was reading a text off of her scroll, neither paying too much attention to her. "I leave for two minutes and already the party dies and two people are in trouble?"

The orange-haired teen peered up from her scroll, a curious expression written in her eyes. "What are you talking about, Yang?"

"Why are Ruby and Pyrrha in Goodwitch's office with the door closed?"

"Oh… Oh~, that. While you and Ruby were napping Goodwitch came by and said she wanted to talk to those two about something, but wouldn't say what. She _did_ say that nobody was in trouble."

"That's a relief." Yang sighed in relief, having a seat on the bench across from both of her friends as a new wave of heat washed over her, "I'm glad Cinder and her crew aren't causing a fit over this, either. I am not in the mood to deal with them right now."

Nora raised an eyebrow as she pocketed her device. "Tell me, Yang, what would you have done had you been there during Emerald's little confrontation yesterday?"

"Torn her damn head off, why?"

The response was so easy and quick that it made the black-haired teen peer up from her tome, now paying full attention to the conversation at hand. "Even with Ruby handling it very well? Like, to the point where not even Coco was needed?"

"Nora, Coco is a guard dog more than anything. If Ruby called off the hounds, that's fine, but she doesn't have a leash on me."

"Yet."

Both Yang and Nora turned towards their new friend, who simply turned the page. Lilac eyes blinked as their owner glared daggers, wanting to push this even further. "I'm sorry, Blake, what was that?"

Amber eyes quickly peered up, then back to the words on the page, then back up. "Give it time, you're already at her mercy right now." Nora and Yang locked eyes, both shrugging in confusion. Blake felt this and sighed, having to explain further. "I can tell just how you treat Ruby, and I can also tell that- at a moment's notice- if she calls, you'll be there."

"And is there anything wrong with that?"

"No, not at all. But it _does_ mean that you are a guard dog, just better trained." Blake replied with ease as she turned another page. "I've only spent one day with you and I've only met Coco once, already I can tell that your interests aren't to smother her completely. To keep it with the analogy that we have already, you're a housebroken mutt where she's not."

Wide-eyed, Nora watched as she was sure that an equally stunned Yang would erupt on the new girl with a force unmatched before. Nobody disrespect… Actually, was this disrespect? Yang was just called a mutt, but at the same time she was also called more reserved and probably thoughtful, if the chef heard that right. Still, with her mouth agape, Yang sat in silence, trying to comprehend what she just heard.

"So, let me get this right." The nurse-in-training began, calling the bow-wearing teen to attention, "I'm a better dog than Coco?"

"You have the eyes of a pug."

What happened next shocked Nora completely: Yang broke down, a smile on her face that went from ear to ear, as she nearly fell from the bench in laughter. She sat upright, clapping a few times as Nora and Blake made eye contact, the former allowing a small smile to break her shocked expression as the new girl stayed as stoic as could be.

"Now that is an insult!" Yang said through fits of giggles, "Or was it a compliment?"

Blake shrugged, "Take it how you will."

"Yes! Yes, I love it!" The blonde applauded, finally regaining her composure. "Oh, man, Blake, I underestimated you, ya know that? Really, well done." The bow-wearing teen bowed her head in respect, setting her book on her lap with her thumb protected her spot. "You're a lot funnier than I thought you would be. It's just the deadpanned tone of your voice that makes it so good!"

"Thank you, Yang."

"How would you like to come over for the weekend?" Amber eyes went wide as an eyebrow was raised in confusion, Nora also meeting Yang's face in oddity. "The girls and I are getting together at my house and we're going to do whatever's the first thing that comes to mind. Want in? Ruby can show you where to go."

"O-oh, really? You mean it?" The bow-wearing teen asked in stunned surprise, only to be met by a confident nod by her blonde friend.

"Sure! You earned my favor just now, and Ruby seems to like you, so why not? It's only fair to ask all of our friends, right?" Nora nodded, trying to be cheerful for her friends, but unable to shake a feeling in the pit of her stomach. Was Yang acting so rash inviting Blake along, while only knowing her for less than two days? Or could she just be overthinking this and making it a bigger deal than it was? Questions for later.

"I'd be happy to accept your invitation. And I'd be happy to take Ruby with me."

Off the corner of her lilac eyes, Yang was able to spot Ruby, being led by Pyrrha, coming back from their little conference with the instructor, the form holding a packet of paper. "Great! You can get the information from Ruby on Saturday!" She turned to face her returning friends with a smile, "And speak of the devil!" Pyrrha stayed stone-faced while Ruby smirked lightly, going past her blonde friend and right to her locker. "So, why the interrogation?"

"It was nothing Yang." Ruby fired off simply, hiding the packet under her arms from her friends- despite Yang's attempts to read it- and opening the door, shoving the papers neatly into her backpack and closing the door again, though this time not opting to lock it. "Nothing that needs to be talked about anyway." Her expression was stoic and her tone was slightly harsh, indicating that she was miffed about something, though the group knew it was probably best to not push.

Ruby sat down next to Yang in the corner where the left bench and the middle bench met, where Pyrrha sat in the middle of the middle bench, Nora sitting at the far end of the right bench and Blake having enough room beside the chef, Yang sitting directly across from the new girl. She nudged the young teen beside her, lilac eyes trying to pick up a story to be told with her friend.

"You good?"

"Yeah." Ruby nodded, assuredly, "I'm fine, why do you ask?"

"You just seem upset?" The silver-eyed teen shook her head after making a face. "Alright, just making sure."

The red-themed teen folded her arms and stretched her legs out, breaking eye contact with the blonde beside her. "Yup, I'm all fine." She confirmed, "Goodwitch was on the phone talking to someone about the heat situation, she hung up to talk to us and then let us go early when her phone rang again."

"I'm almost positive it's the same person." Pyrrha inputted, "She didn't seem too thrilled to be talking with them."

"Well?" Nora asked, "What's the word, then? Come on, I'm dying over here!"

Blake continued to read her book, seemingly ignoring her friends' discussion as Pyrrha shrugged, "The word is confusion, Nora. She didn't tell us what was going on."

"Boy, aren't lockdowns great?"

* * *

Neo kept her gaze glued to the newscast as the coverage continued. The clock had just ticked past eleven, and she had gotten almost nothing done, her concern nearly overtaking her. She knew, of course, that Beacon was in no danger, or relatively no danger, but Ruby hasn't texted back in almost twenty minutes. Where could she be? Could the reception at the school be that bad?

From what she could gather, the police had to evacuate the entire neighborhood, just as a safety precaution. However, there has been no word on whether or not Beacon, which was on the other side of the block from the incident, will be evacuated. She hoped that her assistant was safe, beyond all things, but couldn't help but worry, and that worry drove her lack of work ethic for today.

She was sitting at the table in the break room, the small TV on a nearby counter kept her informed while Ruby couldn't… Not like she would have any additional information, anyway. While Neo sat, a heavy pair of footsteps walked in, stopped at the door, then turned towards the counter behind the seated woman. Instantly, Neo knew who this was, based in the sound of the footsteps.

"Hey, Junior." She greeted, taking a sip from a mug she had in front of her. The man grunted as he walked towards the coffee machine, placed on the counter across from the one occupied by the television. "How's the place going?"

"Nothing's breaking and everyone's rent is on time, so far." He said as he lifted the pot of the freshly made warm beverage. "Oh, damnit, who took all of the sugar?!"

Neo smirked, knowing the answer to that. She also knew that there was a new box of sugar below in the cabinet, but didn't want to spoil any possible fun to be had. Plus, this was her way of enacting revenge for being such an ass towards Ruby… And it was also the aforementioned teen's way of inadvertently getting payback, as well. Double bonus. "I dunno, maybe someone finished it this morning." She excused for her assistant, blaming the crew, "I'll ask around."

"Ah, to hell with it." Junior excused waving his wife off as he leaned against the countertop, mug in hand. "How's it going there?"

The di-chromatic eyed woman shrugged, "I dunno. I can't get Ruby to text me back and they won't say whether or not they'll evacuate Beacon, yet…" Her shoulders slumped as she sat back in her chair, "So far, nothing's happened in almost two hours… Sorry, just over two hours."

"Ah, she'll be fine." The large man waved off easily, "She's probably ducking for cover right now with everyone else."

"Jesus, Junior, it's not a tornado or a warzone!"

"Meh, all the same."

She rolled her eyes and scoffed, shaking her head as she turned back towards the TV, watching as the news had a helicopter over the scene. The sun had broken through the stormy morning weather earlier than anticipated, which made things much more cheery, and also easier for the police as multiple SWAT officers and vehicles surrounding this two-story building, all of the windows seemed to be covered, with people in armor on rooftops pointing scoped weapons at the home. Across the ticker at the bottom of the screen, an update came in: _Negotiators working with barricaded couple to end situation, say peaceful resolution could be met within the hour._ Seriously? Why not just charge in and end it? What's the worst that could…

' _On second thought, let's not find out.'_

* * *

"Oh my god!" Yang groaned loudly, bashing her head into the locker behind her, "This is bullshit!"

"I know, right?!" A girl from another group called out amongst a wave of cheers and giggles. The time was eleven-forty, and with the increasingly boring and depressingly bland day that was currently spent under lockdown, the students were starting to get antsy. Some stood up and started moving around, others were sitting, just like Yang and her friends. Luckily, Goodwitch was able to negotiate her way into a few fans that could circulate the air, each of which were placed at every strategic corner and had cooled down the room nicely. However, that only added more noise to an already easily irritable bunch.

"Calm down, Yang." Ruby soothed, placing the pencil on her ear and rubbing her friend's arm. She had a notebook- her sketchbook- in her lap, her eyes glued to the paper in front of her as she sketched the sight across from her: Pyrrha in the corner, on her scroll with her knees pulled up to her chest, Nora at the other end, her legs stretched as she too was on her mobile device, only she was texting someone, still. Blake, on the other hand, was reading the book she's had all morning, nearly at the end. The trio seemingly hadn't noticed their "volunteering" to be used by their friend, but at the same time Ruby didn't really care. She was bored and didn't have the ability, nor the data, to be on her phone all day. Plus, the battery on the device sucked.

Yang had commented here and there, watching over Ruby's shoulder as the younger girl drew the sight out, both criticizing and complimenting, as needed for any artist to improve. The blonde noticed Ruby's increased skill with structural detail, not only for the lockers surrounding the aforementioned trio, but also for the girls themselves. She was getting better at faces, and that's what mattered… At least, to Yang. As of now, between the silence growing in her group and the rising boredom, as mentioned before, Yang was aggravated, to say the least. Still, she took her friend's advice and took a deep breath to calm down.

"So," Ruby started, picking up her pencil and returning to her work, "Who's doing what after all of this?"

Pyrrha raised an eyebrow, not taking her eyes off of her screen for a moment, though still inquiring: "What do you mean, Ru?"

"Well, I mean… It's been a few hours; it's almost noon and half of the day is gone. Would they really send us back to class?" Various members of her group bounced their heads or nodded in thought over her logic as she continued, "I think it's safe to assume we'd be getting out early."

"So sure about that, huh?" Yang nudged playfully, only to receive a glare from the nudged. "Oh, fine, killjoy."

Almost out of nowhere (at least to Yang and Ruby) a familiar busty instructor came around the corner and leaned against the locker wall with a smirk, her arms crossed in front of her chest. "I think she might be on point, Yang." Both students jumped out of surprise as their instructor quickly startled them, causing a chuckle out of their group. "Because- and I'm not sure if everyone else has seen this yet, but," Glynda's voice rose above the fan's and the various students voices, "-I've received confirmation that the police negotiators have gotten both of the barricaded individuals to end this thing peacefully, so our lockdown will be lifted within the next twenty, maybe thirty minutes." A wave of cheers rose throughout the locker room as the relieved students had their prayers answered. The blonde instructor smiled until the class calmed down, allowing her to finish speaking. "Alright, students, I am also allowed to confirm that Headmaster Ozpin has cancelled classes for the rest of the day, so-" Another short burst of energy throughout the room that was quickly quenched once the students realized that she wasn't done. "So what you should all do is arrange for rides out of the campus. At twelve thirty this school will be closed. You don't have to go home but you can't stay here. The weather has cleared up, so if I don't get a chance to say goodbye then have a wonderful rest of your day."

"Hey, my dad says that." Nora revealed as her instructor finished. "He always tells my coworkers that when we close."

Pyrrha nodded as a memory came back to her from earlier in the year, "He told Jaune and I that after our date."

"Well, you two did stay about ten minutes after we closed, so…"

"Not saying we didn't deserve it, Nora." Pyrrha admonished, "Speaking of your restaurant, how about we go there for lunch? I don't know about you girls but I'm kinda hungry!"

Yang and Ruby nodded in approval as Blake also agreed, feeling a quick vibration in her right pocket. It was her scroll, and she had a feeling that she knew who it was. Pulling out her device, she saw a new text notification, saying 'We have until 12:30. Make it count' and nothing more. As much as she wanted to go with her friends, she needed to stay, she needed to find out more about her neighbor- her friend. She didn't have to miss out, but she was going to be late, and they deserved to know.

Blake raised her hand halfway, silently calling attention to herself as she closed her book. "I'm actually going to be late" She said, cautiously. "I have something that I need to do first, but I'd love to come along."

"You sure, Blake?" Yang asked, but the black-haired teen quickly nodded, "You know where you're going?"

"I've been in Vale enough times to know where the Nordic Lotus is, Yang."

"Just making sure. What do you need to do, go to the bank or something?"

"Y-yeah, yeah that's right, I need some more money is all." Blake carefully lied as the students around them began to gather their belongings, the noise level beginning to rise. In reality, she had enough money to last her a week, if not longer. But they didn't need to know that, they didn't need to know her real reasons for being late.

She, and her friends, grabbed their bags out of their lockers, Ruby noting that she would have to return to her locker for her jacket. The group acknowledged, all agreeing to meet at the restaurant whenever they could, and Yang volunteering to take Ruby there, so she wouldn't have to wait on Blake. It took about ten minutes before the locker room was finally freed, a stampede of students pouring out into the school, most of them never thought they'd be happy to see the halls of the building again.

The group scattered, Pyrrha and Nora going to find their respective significant others and seeing the boys wanted to join them on their excursion for lunch, while Yang and Ruby departed for their lockers… Really, more for Ruby's, as the nurse-in-training didn't need anything else. Blake, instead of heading for the door, maneuvering through the growing throng of fellow students and towards a familiar part of the school, the café. This is where Velvet and Coco wanted to meet, and all she had to do was wait for them, curious as to what they were going to discuss and hopeful that she already knew the answer to that.

She sat at a table at the end of the room, close to the hallway with her back to the wall as the noise of talking heads and multiple pairs of feet meandered through the hall, all of which distracting the teen for a moment, allowing her mind to drift. Memories of past adventures with the familiar rabbit faunus, and even the silver-eyed chi—

… No, not child anymore.

Still, happy times pooled into her mind as anxiety grew, hopeful to get much needed information. Though, she knew that she would have to give information as well, which included some of the more… Not-so good times after Velvet was adopted…

"Blake?" A familiar, accented voice rose above the crowd, causing the amber-eyed teen's bow to wiggle. Blake looked up and saw two young women, one rabbit faunus, smiling at her, and a brown-haired woman with a black beret atop her head. "You're going to have to get better control of that, you know." Velvet said with a giggle, pointing to Blake's bow.

"Force of habit."

* * *

Once sure that her passenger was buckled in, Yang began to slow process of backing out and joining the long queue to exit the school, taking a deep breath as she saw the police guiding people out. At least now traffic will move steadily. Her car was quite a few places back, which gave her some much-needed time to discuss something with her young friend.

Lilac eyes glanced towards Ruby, who was slouching in her seat as she stared out the window. "Hey," She called attention from the passenger, who quickly turned back to her, "How're you holding up?"

"Oh, fine, thanks." Silver eyes blinked as their owner lightly smiled, "How are you?"

"Doing good. Sun's out, school's out, day's getting better."

"Heh, yup."

"Hey, got a question for ya."

"Yeah?"

"How well do you like Blake?" The inquiry took Ruby by surprise, causing her to raise an eyebrow towards her friend, who quickly moved to defend her point. "Don't get me wrong, she seems like a good person and all, it's just… You haven't known her for more than a week and you're already really good friends with her. I mean, it took us, like, a month for you to warm up to us…"

Ruby's face lit up with understanding as she slowly nodded, "Oh, I get it. You're jealous of her, aren't you?"

"What!? No!"

"Ah! You're blushing! Got you!" Yang slammed on the breaks, causing her passenger to lurch forward before getting thrown back into her seat by the grace of her safety belt. "Ow!"

"No, I'm not jealous. I'm just concerned." Ruby quickly gained her composure at the honest, though mildly harsh, words, "I know she's your neighbor and all, but it just seems like she's getting really close _really_ fast. I just want to make sure that you're safe."

A small smile rose on her friend's face as Ruby's tone held a more chiding height to it. "Yang," She started, "You don't have to stay over my shoulder every day, you know. I've got Coco and Velvet for that."

"Then what am _I_ good for?"

"Being a friend?" Lilac orbs blinked as the passenger continued, her tone lightheaded and honest, "Listen, I'm happy to know that you're there for me, but I don't need another 'older sibling', I need someone to just be a friend, you know? I want someone to be there and not say that they're here for my well-being, but to be here because they want to be. Besides… There's just… I feel like I know Blake, you know? I feel like we've met before but I can't tell where. Maybe it was when I was living on Patch, but I feel like I've known her for a while and I want to try and see if she is the person who I think she is."

"And who do you think she is?"

"An old friend."

* * *

Blake sat patiently, waiting for Coco and Velvet to begin as the wonder twins sat in front of her. She chuckled lightly as Yang's nickname ran throughout her mind, only to have her giggle to be interrupted by a beret wearing young woman. "And just what's so funny?" Coco asked harshly.

"You're face." Velvet responded, her tone equally as harsh as she turned back to the black-haired teen across the table. "Sorry about her, she gets… Testy, sometimes."

"I can understand why, especially after today." Blake nodded, "But I am curious as to why we have to meet like this? I mean, we could be anywhere… why stay?"

"Because we knew that Yang would have something in mind for an after-school special." Coco explained, "And given what Velvet's told me about you, and the shared past that the three of you have, we feel that we should talk about some things, catch up a little bit."

"Blake, I left that place when I was almost thirteen," Velvet took over, her eyes held a serious look, but the rest of her face was more anxious, eager even. "Ruby refuses to talk about the time between when I left and when she arrived here in Vale. I was hoping that maybe you could shed some light as to why?"

The black-haired teen before them stiffened slightly before interlocking her fingers on top of the table, breaking eye contact with both young women before her. Coco and Velvet watched as Blake clearly tried to gather her thoughts, looking around the room, then at her hands before deeply sighing.

"What happened… After you left… Phew." She sat back in the chair and closed her eyes, trying to stay composed. "We don't know what happened, but she just… Went out of control… The bitch got worse."

"How so?"

"She was so testy… Worse than Coco, here." Both the faunus and the beret wearing woman locked eyes, concern riddled on the former's face. "She dished out punishment left and right for even the slightest bit of hesitation. If you didn't eat everything on your plate in ten minutes, then she'd make sure you'd miss the next meal. Didn't help clean up? Thrown in the closet and locked the door."

"Oh my god…"

"Ruby, though, really took charge after you left."

Velvet raised a lone eyebrow as a few students walked by, moving out of the school. "How so?"

"After you left, we had four, maybe five kids go out, getting moved to a place for older kids and so we had about six kids come in. Ruby stepped up and started to look after them just like you did when she came in." Amber eyes stayed locked on her old friend as she continued, "Whenever one of the kids screwed up she took responsibility for them… So, she was punished for it… Constantly."

Coco jumped in, trying to keep her cool as she lightly grabbed Blake's arm, the speaker not moving her gaze at all. "So what did you do?"

"What I could." Was the easy reply, but there was more to come. "I did what I could and also what Ruby would let me, as well as what I could do with that bitch over my shoulder all the time. But, it didn't matter what I could do, because three months after you were adopted, Vel… I was next."

The rabbit faunus went wide-eyed, with multiple expressions of joy, confusion, happiness and fear. "R-really? That's great, Blake!"

"Well… Yeah, kinda. Listen, it's a _really_ long story about what happened with me, but that's not why we're here, is it? I told you what you wanted to hear, now you can live up to your end of the bargain."

"Hang on, Blake." Coco declared, slamming her fists into the table, "We still have a lot more to talk about, here!" Just as she was about to elaborate, Coco felt a hand on her shoulder, one she instantly knew to be her adoptive sister's.

"We have little time before someone comes to kick us out, Coco, it's already twelve-fifteen." Velvet affirmed, "Besides, Blake's late enough to meet her friends as is, so we have to make this as fast as possible. One day soon we'll all sit down and talk this out. All of us, Ruby included. She'll want to know." Both Blake and Coco nodded in agreement as the brown eyes of the rabbit faunus locked eyes with the amber orbs of her old friend. "What do you want to know?"

"Everything that's happened since you two were reunited. I need to know what I'm going to deal with, and anything else that we need we can get from Ruby herself later."

* * *

Yang checked her scroll, her little patience starting to wear thin as she and Ruby sat in the parking lot of the Nordic Lotus. It was just passed twelve-ten and nobody else from the group had arrived yet, which worried her to an extent. They knew that Blake would be late, they didn't expect her for another twenty minutes at the most, but as for Pyrrha and Nora, the duo wondered just what happened?

Ruby had kept a look out, keeping her gaze staying locked on the ramp that led into the parking lot from the main road, as Yang stayed with her eyes to the clock. They sat in her small, two-door car, a golden Grand Prix that was older then Yang was with black racing strips on the hood. The car used to belong to her grandfather, who fixed up old cars for a living. The old man repainted the car after adding new parts to it, rebuilding an old, worn out engine and also going as far to reline the seats to a leather finish. Yang took very good care of her car, even though she didn't drive it so much in the colder months- that was reserved for her motorcycle, which was the same color as her car.

The sun was starting to reach its peak in the sky as more and more cars pooled into the parking lot of the restaurant, the lunch rush having finally arrived. The Nordic Lotus was a two-story building that nearly spanned the entire block. Both floors were used for the restaurant, while only a small portion of the building was used for the kitchen. The outside of the building had a nice wooden finish, having been remodeled this past summer, there was even a very sturdy wooden deck that overlooked the main road below. The deck had a wooden roof overhead for days like today where the rain refused to stop… Except now, the rain had gone away, much to Yang's joy. The inside of the restaurant had an Eastern theme to it, though the food is very much Atlasian. The inside was very cozy, even having a basement which they used as a speakeasy for sporting events. Ren and Nora's parents spared no expense to make their clientele happy, and they were greatly rewarded for it.

"Come on, guys." Yang groaned, her passenger not looking up from her window, "We'll give them five more minutes and then we'll go inside and get a seat, I'm getting tired of waiting."

"Sounds good to me." Ruby nodded as she pulled out her own phone, "Can you take over the watch for me? I should call Neo while I have a moment." Yang nodded, agreeing to her new task and craning her neck over her friend's head as Ruby pressed the speed dial button for Neo. She put the old device to her ear as it began to ring.

"Remind me to get you a new phone for Christmas."

"Do so and I'll rip your hair out." The response was so quick and easy that it caused Yang to hold a stunned look, her mouth agape in awe over her friend's words, and deep down a sense of pride over Ruby's quick wit. The young girl had learned much these last few months, and she had grown to take less crap from her friends, for the most part.

A click and a voice was heard over the phone, bringing Ruby's full attention to a new conversation. "There you are!" Neo exclaimed, "You haven't returned any of my texts!"

"Wait, you texted me?"

"Yes! Seven times!"

Ruby began to blush as Yang could hear the short woman on the other end, a smile growing on her face as she peered down at her passenger. "I'm sorry, I haven't gotten them."

"Obviously."

"Well, if you're done giving me crap for something I have no control over," Ruby began with a sigh, knowing Neo wouldn't take too kindly to the attitude brought forth. "We're out of class, finally and I'm going out to lunch with Yang and the others, so I won't be back for like, another hour."

"Okay, yeah, take your time."

"Thanks, I'll see you soon." The phone clicked and the line went dead before she finished, causing her to stutter before closing her device. "She must be busy."

"Did she hang up on you or something?" Ruby nodded in confirmation, "Maybe she just thought the conversation was done or something? She probably didn't mean to do it." The young teen sat back in her seat as she pocketed her flip phone, peering back out the window. Maybe Yang was right, maybe Neo didn't mean to? She was probably thinking too far into it and decided that she shouldn't worry as Yang stepped out of the car. "I'm tired of waiting. Come on, we'll grab a seat and wait on them."

Ruby agreed, jumping out of the front seat and closing the door, ensuring that her school bag was safely hidden in the small back seat that could only be reached by moving the front seats. She caught up with Yang quickly and walked into building, a few drops of water barely missing the duo from the overhang above. There was a line of business men and women waiting to be seated, but the duo knew that they wouldn't have to wait long as they stood in line, Yang noticing her friend standing a little closer to her than usual. She wondered why, but told herself that it was a very cramped space as they walked through the heavy wooden front doors and into a spacious, luxurious room with multiple paintings and pictures along the wood-lined wall. With two floors, two kitchens and enough workers within, the Nordic Lotus was like a factory line, everyone working hand in hand with each other. Three groups ahead of them were quickly seated, leaving Yang and Ruby to almost next in line. In the far back, near a staircase to the upper story, Ruby locked eyes with a familiar short woman, an older one with short, curly orange hair and a black apron on, hugging her larger body. Instantly, she knew that this was Nora's mother, Kari.

Kari was the spitting image of Nora… Or vice versa. The only difference was that Kari was a healthier sized woman, being barely two inches taller than her daughter. Another big difference is that Kari was more adept in her native tongue, where Nora could only speak a few words of the Nordic language. Once the final group of suits were taken to be seated, Kari quickly rushed to the front, declaring that she would handle the next two.

"I'll take them!" She said, rushing her older body to the front of the store, "I've been waiting for you two!" She quickly grabbed the two of them in a crushing hug, giving Yang a piece of her own medicine for a change while Ruby, fairly accustomed to this, just let it happen. "You two should be ashamed for not seeing your aunt Kari as often!" The accented woman released the two and grabbed menus before turning on a heel and marching forward, not giving either teen a chance to excuse themselves or speak, "Come! Come! We sit now!"

"Aunt Kari?" Yang shrugged, "The hell did that come from?"

Ruby shook her head as she began to follow the woman down to a corner table, "Don't mess with her, Yang, remember where Nora gets her energy from."

"Right." The group came to a complete stop at a small booth, but Yang raised her hand and shook her head. "We're actually expecting more than four, so…"

"Say no more! Take end booth, there!" Kari said, snapping her fingers at the corner booth that could seat eight people easily. Ruby went in first as Yang sat in next, taking the right side of the large booth around the octagonal table. Yang sat at the end as Ruby stayed close to her friend, trying to take any room, even though there was only two of them. The orange haired woman set down the menus at the appropriate spots before pulling out a pad and paper, "What kind of drinks can I get you?"

"Can I just get an orange pop?"

"Of course, Yang, and for Ruby?"

"Uh, coffee, I guess?" She received a glare from the waitress, causing her to shrink in her seat. "Guess not."

"Don't you think you're a little young to be drinking coffee?"

"Nope."

Kari rolled her eyes and shook her head with a smirk. "Cream and five sugars?"

"Please."

"Moment, please." She departed, leaving both teens to themselves for a moment longer and finally allowing Ruby to take a deep, relaxing breath.

"And _this_ is why I hope she's in the kitchen every time I come here." She said with a defeated tone. "She always chastises any of my choices and makes me feel bad about what I get."

"She _can_ get pretty bad, sometimes. But she has good intentions in mind."

"I get it, she's looking out for me, too. But come on! _Too young to drink coffee_ , geez."

"I know, I know." Yang admonished, "She's nothing like Ren's mom."

"Ren's mom won't force food down my throat, Yang."

"I know, Ru, I know."

Kari returned with a clear glass with orange liquid and a white mug, setting it down in front of the respective patrons and stood by, "I'm kinda busy, so I can't stay long." She excused, "But I do know that both Ren and Nora will be here in a few minutes, and she said something about Pyrrha being here alone, so…" Both teens nodded, allowing their "Aunt" to leave. "I'll come and take your orders when they get here, alright?"

The blonde gave a thumb up and nodded, "Sounds good." The woman finally left the two and went back to work, allowing them to return to their conversation. "I don't have an issue with her, but sometimes she can be over-imposing. We need to talk to Nora about that."

"Thank you. I didn't know how to bring that up."

"I got ya, baby, I got ya." Yang admonished, playfully patting her friend on the back, who craned her head around to glare at the blonde. "Nope, not gonna work this time."

"Just be careful with who you call 'baby'."

"And what are you going to do about it?"

"Geez, I don't know? I never think these threats through, Yang, you know this." The duo shared a chuckle as the patiently awaited the arrival of their friends, whom they wished would be just a tad faster. "I wonder why Jaune didn't want to come."

"Does it matter?"

The noise level in the building seemed to increase to a louder state, maybe because neither of the teens noticed until now. "Yes, Yang, it totally matters."

"To who?"

"Pyrrha!"

"And you care?"

"Yes!"

"Okay."

"Geez, you're insufferable."

"Wow," Yang cooed, "Where'd you hear that one?"

"I've eavesdropped on Weiss once or twice, she used that quite a few times."

"I don't know what's worse, the fact that you were so bored that you spied on Weiss, or the fact that you're _learning_ from your spying on Weiss…"

"She's not so bad, Yang." Ruby finally admonished, despite the memory of the earlier morning's incident fresh in her mind. "At least I don't think she is."

Out of the corner of Yang's eyes, she saw Nora and Ren jumping out of the latter's jeep, with Pyrrha's car close behind, searching for a parking spot. "I'd be careful with that form of thinking, if I were you." She warned her younger friend, "You might get burned by it, especially when it comes to _them_ …"

Ruby watched her friends walk up towards the door, knowing that she didn't have long to ask something that has been bothering her for as long as she has known the nurse-in-training. "Yang?" Her meek voice rose above the crowd, calling the soft lilac eyes of her friend towards her as Yang took a sip from her soda. "Can I ask something?"

"Of course, Bu, what's up?"

"Why do you hate those kids so much?"

"U-uh, oh, well, you see…" The blonde stuttered as she tried her best to stall while her friends walked in, Nora and Ren opting to not wait for their athletic friend as she searched for a parking spot in the packed lot. Worse comes to worse she'll have to go down the block and pay a few cents to park in the street. Luckily, Yang's stall paid off as Nora quickly approached the bench, scooting in as far as she could go in order to take up as little room as possible. "Well hey there!" Yang greeted, only to have daggers be glared at her by familiar and angry silver eyes. She wasn't going to hear the end of this, but for now had gotten away from it. "Look whose skipping work for today!"

"Oh, please, they don't need our help. This is nothing compared to the weekend crowd." Nora easily waved off, "Besides, we're not on shift for another three or four hours, so it's all fine!"

Ren finally arrived and took his seat beside his partner and leaving the other end open as Nora sat beside Ruby. "Yang, Ruby." He politely greeted. "Nice to see you, again."

"Likewise." Ruby bowed her head as Pyrrha could be seen running through the parking lot, "Well, better late than never, I suppose." She felt a quick vibration in the pocket of her skirt, something that she had been very thankful for. Beacon's female uniform was the uniform shirt with the school crest above the left breast, and a black skirt, while the boys was the same for the uniform shirt, just black pants. Though in the winter time the school allowed for black pants or sweats to be worn, and this rule was for both boys and girls uniforms. Thankfully, the skirts weren't loose, like a sundress, which allowed for pockets on each side. It was in Ruby's left pocket where she tucked her phone away.

Quickly pulling out the device, she noticed a text from her neighbor, confirming that she was on her way. As she was about to speak, she noticed the conversation her friends were having and decided against interrupting it for anything. Blake would show up in a few minutes, the time just passed twelve-twenty, and the group would enjoy each other's company again, laughing and joking like they should have been doing during class and getting yelled at by the instructors for their screwing around. Who cares if they got in trouble? It was still fun! Only now, they can have fun with each other without the worry or the fear of getting yelled at… Except maybe Nora and Ren, whose parents were already keeping an eye on them.

Pyrrha walked in and sat down in silence as Yang began her playful beratement of the emerald-eyed teen sat down with a grin, taking the wind out of Yang's sails as the blonde made comment about the tardiness of the others, boasting about how on time Ruby and herself were, even though the red-themed teen beside her insulted her driver, calling her the "Licensed Maniac."

Now the games could begin.

* * *

"Whew, wow." Yang sat back, her breathes labored and careful as she allowed her body to recover from the war-crime she committed on her food. "That was some good eats!" She had ordered the Ren's specialty: A slab of ribs that are cooked so well they fall off the bone before it's even served.

Ruby nodded in agreement as she finished her meal, having ordered the restaurants famous salmon meal, slow cooked in a wood fire oven with a teriyaki glaze, served with a fresh side of one's choice of potatoes or vegetables. Ruby chose the potatoes and did not regret it, having scarfed down her meal quickly (since she skipped breakfast). However, her speed went unmatched compared to Yang, a rare moment indeed. While the red and yellow themed duos finished their meals, the rest of the group had just gotten halfway.

Nora and Ren both ordered the breakfast special and decided to share it, considering it was four massive pancakes with either hashbrowns or sausage, and quite a bit of it. Pyrrha ordered the Speakeasy Special, which was chicken wings and fries. To her, she had busted her butt the last few days, so she earned a little something-something. Blake had duplicated Ruby's order, saying that the fish meal sounded nice.

For a coastal city like Vale, fish was a commodity of sorts; few could make it as well as others. However, The Nordic Lotus seemed to do everything right, and it wasn't just the bias of the group going on.

The bow-wearing teen also nodded in approval before turning her gaze towards the red and yellow themed teens across from her, "This was a good idea." She said in-between bites, "Thanks for talking me into this." Ruby easily held a thumbs up as she sat back, allowing her body to relax and digest her meal. As she did, Kari returned from her duties and leaned against the side of the booth that Blake and Pyrrha were seated on, her gaze strictly on Blake.

"I haven't seen you around, lovely." She said with a smirk, "New to the group?"

"Try more the city, mom." Nora jumped in quickly, "She was that new student I told you about."

"Oh, the really quiet and mysterious one?" Of course, Kari's big mouth sabotaged her daughter, making the teen close her hand in a fist as she bit her lip, hiding away a nervous smile as a blush rose to her cheeks. The group stayed silent, save for a small 'Ohh' to be emanated from Pyrrha, most of the teens scratching their heads awkwardly. "What? Did I say something wrong?"

"No, mother, no you didn't." Nora deadpanned, instantly thinking that the two of them would have a long talk about private speak later. However, Blake's amber eyes looked up from her plate and casually glanced to both Nordic women with a smirk.

"Think I'm mysterious, huh?" Nora, once again, blushed and looked away awkwardly. However, the bow-wearing teen shrugged simply and returned to her food. "I could see where you'd get that idea."

The blonde across from her raised an eyebrow and leaned into the table with interest, "You don't have an issue with that, Blake?"

"Nah." She shook her head as casually as she could, "I'm the new kid who doesn't say much and just follows you all around while I try to get an understanding of the school, I could see why you would say that. Being honest, I expected much worse."

"Why would you expect that?" Pyrrha nudged curiously. However, Blake shrugged again, moving to her last few bites.

"New kid on the block? High school? All the stigma, all of those movies, you know how it goes." The group nodded as she continued, "But I'm glad it didn't go that way and I've been very happily proven wrong. Thank you for doing that." She kept a collective nod going to the group as she turned her head around towards Kari, "This food was very nice. My compliments to the chef."

"I'll let them know, love." The accented woman said as she turned her head towards Ruby, "You, however, aren't done young lady."

 _Craaaaaaaaaaaap._ This was it, this is where it began with the woman again. It _has_ to go this way every damn time Ruby comes here… "What do you mean?" The silver eyed teen asked with a heavy sigh, "I finished _everything_ on my plate, Kari."

"Mom." Nora growled as the familiar-faced woman held up a lone hand to her daughter.

"You haven't eaten nearly enough, darling. Look at you! How much do you even weigh, child?"

"Okay, you are _way_ out of line!" Yang exclaimed, pounding her fist into the table and startling an annoyed Ruby… Actually, the rest of the group was pretty fed up with this. "You don't have a right to even say that, let alone tell her what to do, lady!"

"Is that anyway to talk your aunt?"

"Yes! Hell yes!"

"Mom, Yang's right."

"Oh, you don't know what you're talking about." Kari waved them all off easily and departed. "I'll go and get you something else and we'll get you going on a healthy path!"

"Oh, geez, for god's sakes." Both Ren and Nora sighed as Ruby ran her fingers through her hair, the shorter teen ordering people to clear out from the booth. "Move, move! I'll handle this."

"Don't do anything that you're going to regret on my behalf, please." Ruby pleaded, only to receive a very angry thumbs up from her friend, who marched after her mother once she had a clear path out of the booth. Pyrrha and Blake both moved back into the booth and fnished their meals as they patiently awaited the Nordic girl's return… Both of the girls, at least. "I'm serious when I say I _hate_ it she does this."

"I know, Ru, I told you I know." Yang admonished with an annoyed tone as she turned to Blake, "Every time we come in here, Nora's mom always says that somebody didn't eat enough, and most of the time it's Ruby. All because she looks a little underweight."

"I'm a very healthy weight for my body size!"

"We know, Ruby." Ren confirmed, apologetically, only to have lilac eyes turn towards himself.

"Any chance that your mother could wait on us from here on? This is getting bad."

"Sure thing." He confirmed, "You'd have to go upstairs, though, because that's her turf."

Both Ruby and Yang nodded in agreement, speaking in unison: "Done." Had this been any other situation, Blake would have laughed at the nearly sisterly antics by the duo before her. However, she could tell just how upset and annoyed Ruby was and decided against it. By the sounds of things, this happened more often than not, and it was easy to see just how badly it affected the group, because in an instant the aura of all present turned to a negative tone. Though, a curious thought did come to mind…

"Ruby." The amber-eyed teen called, "If it's not too much for me to ask… How much do y-"

"One-hundred and five pounds as of last week." She replied with a deadpanned tone, though her neighbor knew it wasn't a poor attitude directed at her. "Which for a five-foot-five teenage girl, that's a good size. I just… Have a hard time gaining muscle?"

"No, you have a high-metabolism." Yang nudged, her arms crossed beneath her busty chest, "You burn off energy more than you retain it. That's not uncommon for people our age." She scratched her head in annoyance and grumbled something to herself, patiently waiting for her friend to return and for all of this to be cleared up. This was why Ruby didn't like coming here, this moment. And sometimes they'd get lucky and Kari would be behind in the kitchen, but others… She shivered at the thought. Ruby, however, seemed to be hugging herself, staring at her empty plate, deep in thought.

Because damnit, she was doing all that she could with what she had! Sure, she didn't have a lot of food available half of the time, but when she ate with Junior and Neo she ate like royalty! Ruby tried her best to have as many full meals as possible and was self-conscious about her weight… Really, she was self-conscious about her body as a whole, and her friends knew that. They tried their best to help her be more comfortable with herself, but then Kari comes along and blows it! Every time it's one step forward and two steps back!

Pyrrha, in a desperate attempt to change the subject to bring the mood back up, turned to Blake and asked a familiar question. "So, Blake," She began hurriedly, "How are you enjoying class so far."

"Well, like I said earlier, I've gotta give the school a mulligan. It's not fair to judge my classes when I haven't had them yet. At the end of the week, I'll let you know."

"Sounds nice."

"I am curious as to what you were talking with Goodwitch about, back during the lockdown."

"Nothing, Blake." Ruby deadpanned, "Nothing you should concern yourself with, at least."

Yang patted the young girl on the back softly, "Remember, the enemy is Kari, not us." She received several glares from the group, causing her to bite her lip and raise her hands defensively. "… Sorry."

Nora returned after a tense moment in silence, her face seemingly indifferent and her mother nowhere to be seen. She refused to sit, instead leaning into the table, her gaze locked on Ruby. "Alright, so," She began with a deep sigh, "I know this isn't exactly a good way to end things, here, but she apologizes for what she said." Her words were stuttered and slow, but honest to Ruby. "She didn't realize what she was doing, but she said she doesn't go back on her words, unfortunately."

"And that's okay." Ruby admitted, "She has the right to her opinion, but that was pretty insulting, Nora…"

"I-I know, and I'm sorry. My dad is having a word with her and said that you don't have to worry about the tab, today, he'll pick it up, alright?"

"No, he shouldn't have to-"

"Let it happen, Ruby." Ren interrupted easily, "He's probably not in the mood, seeing as how furious he was about it last time."

"You should see your mom, Ren."

"Mad?"

"Pretty."

"Should we go?" Blake inquired awkwardly, trying to avoid any further incident.

Nora shrugged cautiously, "That's up to you all. I can get your checks."

"I think we should go." Yang growled. "And here I was starting to enjoy my day, too."

"It's okay, Yang." Ruby meekly said as her friend rose out of the booth. Lilac eyes turned and glared back at her, telling the teen that this probably wasn't the best time to reason with her. She shook her head, dropping the subject as Nora departed for the kitchen to receive the checks. Blake stood up, allowing Pyrrha and Ren to exit the booth; the latter following his friend to the back while Pyrrha and Ruby shared eye contact. "You were rather quiet during that."

The red-haired athlete shrugged, honestly. "What else could I have said?" She pondered aloud, "You, Yang, Nora and Ren were already giving her hell, nothing I could have done could have changed anything. That being said, I agree with Kari to an extent, but the way she went about it was all wrong."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean," She broke eye contact to gather her thoughts as Blake watched nearby, eager to hear what the taller teen had to say. "I think that you had a good point with your metabolism, but there are other ways for you to put on weight, if that's really what you want to do. Personally, I think you're fine as is, but I agree with her in the fact that you probably could eat more in every meal, rather than little bits in two and a lot in one. You get what I'm saying?"

"I… Think so. Thank you, Pyrrha."

"If we're going to be teammates, you know?"

Teammates? What? Hm, interesting, at least to Blake. Now all she could do is ponder just what the two were talking about as Ren returned with everyone's checks, having to chase Yang down at the front counter in order to give it to her. The group begrudgingly paid and walked out, another apology being sent towards Ruby from her two friends as she left for home. Yang allowed her to get her school bag out of the back seat and leaned against the driver's side door as more rain clouds lingered above, another line of storms seeming to roll in and give her another reason to be upset.

As she excavated her belongings, Ruby hugged the teen who was formerly her driver, asking her to calm down before going back on the road, just to be safe. Yang agreed, albeit reluctantly. After a moment, the duo broke the embrace and returned to their rightful spots; Pyrrha had already made it to her car, looking to get as far away from this dumpster fire of a day as possible while Ruby followed Blake to her car. Yang had quickly jumped in her supped up death machine and drove away, peeling out to head home.

"I thought we were having fun." Blake wondered aloud.

"We were… For a good long while there."

"I'm sorry that happened."

"Why are you sorry? You had no control over it?"

"I know, but still…" The bow-wearing teen blushed lightly as she began to walk across the empty street towards her black car. She had to park in the street, unfortunately, but was lucky to have one so close to the building, just halfway down the block. "At least you got your meal for free."

Ruby scoffed, "Yeah, because that's what I strive for every day." Blake made a blank face, pursing her lips as she realized just what she had implied and cursing herself for her poor choice of wording. "Sorry, I'm just a little testy today."

"It's okay. Let's go home."

The duo hopped in, buckling their seatbelts while Blake turned the engine over, put it in drive and drove away, through the windows of the store Ruby could see Nora and Ren watching and felt bad for them. She always hated causing problems, and this was no different, regardless of what Nora's mother had said. Still, she kept her thoughts to herself as she tried her best to take her mind off things, sitting back in her passenger seat and sighing.

Blake wanted to say something, anything to help her friend, but couldn't think of anything, cursing herself for her lack of action. Once again, Ruby needed her help and she couldn't provide. Damnit!

She drove out to the familiar highway and began driving north, knowing that in a few minutes they'd be home and Ruby could drown her sorrows in… Whatever she used to drown sorrows, really. At this point, she wouldn't blame the teen for drinking after all of that, but wouldn't condone it. However, she wondered if Ruby really was that self-conscious about her body? _'Maybe it's the attention?'_ the bow-wearing teen considered to herself, _'Or, maybe she's just nervous. Either way, she looks great… In a friendly way, of course…'_

' _Brain?'_

' _Yeah?'_

' _Shut up… You gave me an idea.'_

She returned her attention to the road and managed to make every green light by the grace of the almighty… Or by the luck of a thousand years that she will never see again… Worth it, either way, because they arrived at their destination faster than expected. As Blake searched for a parking spot, dark clouds seemed to roll over and block out the sun completely, which means that she had little time before it would start to pour. She had to find a parking spot and tell her passenger something very important all in a few minutes.

Luckily, she was able to find one under a tree, which would offer some protection in the long run. At least, that was the hope. Blake put the car in park and turned the engine off, quickly locking the doors before Ruby could escape again. "What the-? Blake?"

"Ruby, listen." The driver sighed, "I don't care what you think about yourself, nor do I care what the others may think or some old lady who runs a restaurant thinks… But if you ask me, I think I look pretty good."

Ruby's silver eyes went wide as she began to blush, slowly looking away from the black-haired teen as she processed just what she heard. She took it as a compliment above all else, but for some reason it struck her harder than on from Yang or Nora, or even Pyrrha for that matter. Why was it that this one felt so… So… Genuine? Is that what this was? It was an actual compliment, and not just one to pat her on the back?

"Wow, uh… Thanks, Blake. Really, that means a lot." The bow-wearing teen smiled and unlocked the car, opening her side of the door.

"Just thought you might want to know." She said as she exited her vehicle. "Now let's get going, huh? It's been a long day.

'You could say that again, sister.' Still, Ruby had a legitimate job to do, and had to report to Neo, despite how tired she was and just how sore her back was from her earlier nap. "You go on ahead, I've gotta meet up with Neo."

A few drops of rain began to fall as she turned to go around back, but a hand grabbing her arm stopped her. Turning around, she saw familiar amber eyes staring into her soul. "I just have one more thing…" Blake began. "Just who is Neo to you?"

"Aside for my boss and my landlord?" Blake nodded, "Well… She's kinda the woman who raised me, you know? She's looked after me and continues to do so."

Blake pursed her lips as she nodded, releasing her neighbor, satisfied with the answer. "Sorry, curiosity, you know."

"Ah, but curiosity killed the cat." Blake winced as she turned and walked away, that expression getting her every time. Ruby noticed the physical jolt of her neighbor, but didn't want to push. Maybe killing cats hit a nerve with Blake? Hrm, best to not find out… Everyone has their issues, of course. Just like hers was her self-consciousness. The rain began to pick up as she now ran around the back of the building, the sound of the liquid hitting the concrete offering a touch of nostalgia for her, though she shook the feeling and opened the heavy back door. Once inside, she turned into the break room and found a familiar short woman sitting at the table, numerous files before her. "I'm stuck locked down at school and you get lost in the paperwork?" She quipped, allowing the woman to smirk at her, "Man, this place would fall apart without me."

"On the contrary," Neo began, "We'd be alright."

"Ouch, my heart." Ruby took a seat beside her friend, dropping her backpack to the floor. "So what's happened here so far?"

"Plumbing issues on all levels." Neo deadpanned, "Can't figure out why. Nothing's broken. We thought it was the rain, but…"

"It still might be?"

"We'll just have to wait. Other than that, nothing's happened. Been waiting on you… You look like hell."

"Wow, thanks, Neo," Ruby sarcastically replied, "I needed that after today." The short woman raised an eyebrow, but was waved off. "It's nothing. Just a long day."

"Kinda tired, huh?"

"Insanely. I was going to take a powernap before work, but I had to talk to you about something first…"

"Okay, sure." The woman set aside the files as Ruby pulled out a packet from her backpack, placing it before dichromatic eyes. Neo read the words aloud, "Beacon Academy Volleyball Team Information… What?"

"It's a long story but… Neo, they actually _want_ me to join the team."

* * *

 **Wow, that was a lot, wasn't it? Hope you took notes, because now it's quiz time!**

 **So out of that entire mass of insanity and** **long-winded writing, what was:**

 **Your favorite part?**

 **Part that peaked your interest?**

 **Part you disliked the most?**

 **Part you want to see more about?**

 **I want to hear it all, people! Out of all of that, you should be able to give me something, and don't hold back on the negative. I need to know what wasn't that strong in this work that I could do better on. It can be something that seemed too rushed, or something that there was too much on, but I'm asking for everything.**

 **That being said, if you enjoyed this length of a chapter, then revel in it, because it's not going to happen too often. Most chapters will be 6k words at the very least. If you didn't enjoy a chapter of this size, well... It won't happen too often. Honestly, I don't know what else to tell ya...**

 **Also, I'm sorry that this chapter is so late, but finals are starting to kick up, so I'm getting a little busy. Tardiness for chapters will be common in the future. I am starting on the next one, though, so we can look forward to that. As always,**

 **Until Next Time.**


	10. Catching Up with the Cast

**Well, well, well, here we are again. You'll notice that this one is a little shorter than my usual forte. You'd be correct, it is. I needed kind of a transition point into the next chapter just so that it could flow smoothly, and this was the result. Just a quick look at the main team, a quick catch up if you will.**

 **Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

"Yang?" A familiar voice called out to her, breaking the blonde teen from her stupor. Lilac eyes blinked as their owner realized just what had happened: She had been dragging her fork around her empty plate as her mind wandered, though now she looked up at a familiar man with a light scuttle he called a beard, instantly recognizing her father. "You okay? You've been quiet ever since you got home."

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine." Yang waved off, dropping what was left of her silverware. "I'm just a little tired, I guess."

"You sure that's all? He replied with a smirk, "I know when something's bothering you, you know?"

With a heavy sigh, Yang realized that she had been had and that the jig was up. "Yeah, actually," She said, "there is something on my mind…"

"There we go!"

"Remember that thing I told you about when I got home? That incident at The Nordic Lotus?" Her father nodded his head as she continued, "That's been on my mind… Quite a few other things, honestly."

"Ah, I see. What other things?"

Yang shrugged before sitting back in her chair, "Just these incidents with Ruby, you know? She's not normally a fighter or someone to get so involved, but that confrontation that I missed yesterday, and that volleyball thing today, and now with Mrs. Valkyrie hounding her, I don't know what I can do for her, you know?"

"What are you talking about, Yang? What other things can you do?"

"Well, I mean…" She sighed, defeatedly, trying to find her words to describe what she was thinking, "It's just that… She already has a lot on her plate. Her parents work full time, she works with her apartment owners, and has school to work with… I don't like how she's having all this stress put on her. Sure, she went all out during gym class today- and I'm proud of her for that- but I'm afraid that too much might be happening at once for her, you know?"

"Not really."

"Alright, so, it's easy to see that she's a busy girl. Sometimes I'm worried that she's so busy that she forgets to eat… I think Nora's mom brought up a good point, but it just wasn't right, _how_ she did it."

"How much does she weigh, though?"

"She says a hundred and five."

Her father nodded, "And how old is she?"

"Fifteen."

"That's average for a girl her age…"

"And it's a load of bullshit." This response caused the man to raise an eyebrow towards his daughter as she folded her arms before her chest. "I've actually picked her up, I've carried her around for fun… She is not one-hundred pounds, let alone one-o-five."

"So why lie about it?"

"Keep us off her back? I don't know…"

"Maybe she doesn't want you to worry about her all that much? She sounds like a capable young lady."

"And she is, but I can't help but worry for her…"

"Whelp," He said, standing up from his seat and picking up his newly emptied plate, "I don't know what to tell you. If she doesn't want to be bothered then it's her right, even as a practitioner of medicine you can't force help on someone."

"But what if she doesn't _know_ that she needs help?"

"It doesn't matter." He picked up his protesting daughter's plate and maneuvered towards the sink, dropping them within. "It's her parent's obligation to her well-being, and since there's no sign of neglect or abuse, then we can't intervene. I'm sorry." Yang's shoulder's dropped dejectedly as she sighed, "I know you want to help, but sometimes there's just nothing we can do."

"No… There's always something we can do."

* * *

"There we go." Ruby said with a deep sigh as she finished the window. "That outta keep the cold air out when winter comes." She turned back to an older woman, her neighbor as a matter of fact, Miss O'Reilly. She was an older woman, in her early nineties, but was still fully capable of living on her own. However, she couldn't do the task that the young teen before just accomplished. Ruby had saran wrapped all three of the old neighbor's windows for the impending cold blast that winter brought, wanting it done now before it got too late and before she could lose more on her bill.

The brunette teen lifted a few cords from the side of the molding, pulling them back and retracting them when she found what she was looking for. "Cool, so if you want and if it's a nice day outside, you can open the blinds and let in some light without letting in the cold and the cover won't come off."

"Oh, thank you, darling." The older woman said with a smile, standing with her cane in her right hand and observed. Her apartment was framed just like Blake's was, except the paint job was different; most of the space was painted a navy blue. The bedroom and bathroom to the right and the kitchen to the left. Ruby was in the center room at the window, coming down from the coffee table she had used as a step ladder, per the owner's advice. "You did all that rather fast, too."

Ruby shrugged easily, "Eh, I'm good at what I do."

"That you are." Miss O'Reilly nodded in agreement, walking back into the kitchen and towards her fridge. There was a small, windowless gap in the wall separating the two rooms which allowed Ruby to peer into the cooking area and eye her neighbor, who reached in for a bottle within. She set it down on the counter and closed the door before turning back to her young helper. "You've helped us out a lot, you know? I don't know what I would do without you."

"I'm sure someone in Maintenance would help you out." Miss O'Reilly shook her head and handed the fresh bottle of water to the red-themed teen before her, who gladly accepted it.

"Yes, they could, but not as happily as you did it. They would probably mumble and groan where you didn't have an issue with helping me." Ruby's cheeks reddened lightly as she tried her best to hide away her blush, a small smile broke through her failed stoic expression. "You're so cheerful, I don't know how you do it."

"Youthful optimism?" Ruby shrugged, "That's what Neo calls it at least."

"Ah, and how are they doing? Your ' _bosses'_ , I mean?"

"Oh, uh…" Silver eyes tore away from the woman as she tried to think of an excuse. Since she has been home today they seem to tolerate each other, but the past few days? "Well… They're trying, you know? Winter's coming, stuff keeps breaking, all of that on top of losing their assistant for half of a night or longer to do homework, things can get kinda frustrating for them."

"I can imagine." The woman nodded, pouring herself a cup of coffee, "However, I'm not sure if it's just the seasonal change getting to them."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you said it yourself, honey." The older woman said with a serious grin, "You're their assistant, and yet you're in no position to assist them. I know Neo gives you the pass, but Junior doesn't seem to care about your own schooling, much like he never cared for his own."

The red-themed teen raised her eyebrows in surprise, the new information sparking some interest. "If it's too much to ask," She began, "What are you talking about? They don't like to tell me about their levels of education."

"Ah, there's that youthful curiosity, child. Well, to start, Junior's definitely not the same man he was before his father passed." She set her cane atop the kitchen counter and began to recall a story, "He was in his first year at college learning about business when he met his now wife through a mutual friend. They hit it off well, but you knew that they weren't _really_ the perfect couple. His father became ill midway through his first semester, so he cancelled his classes and came home to run the complex. He's been doing that ever since and Neo has been helping him. I think, personally- I have no right to judge but it's a woman's intuition- that he feels unfulfilled. He gave up everything to keep this place running and I think he doesn't value education as much as he used to.

He wants you to be the one who does what he did and run this place when he's gone, but I know that Neo doesn't want that for you. She wants you to do better than both of them combined, do you know why?"

"Why?"

"Because you deserve it, child."

Silver eyes blinked as their own stood silently, taking all of the information and opinion in stride. It makes sense, why Junior hasn't cared much for what she does in school and why Neo bans her from working until her homework is done. It makes sense that he doesn't care much for the school sanctioned events while Neo will let her go. It answers some questions but raises so many more. Are they fighting because they don't agree with how they're handling their education? Are they at each other's throats daily because of their own histories? So many more, too… She wanted to press the woman- this fountain of knowledge- but as she opened her mouth to speak her phone began to ring.

"Oh, my, I'm sorry." Ruby said with a blush, reading the name on the screen, "That's Neo, sorry. Just a second." The woman beyond the gap nodded with a smirk as her guest answered the ringing device, trying to be as brief as possible. "Okay… Yeah, alright, I'll be right down." She hung up and closed her phone before sighing deeply.

"The real world came back, didn't it?"

"With a vengeance." Ruby chuckled, "Barely four o'clock and this place is still jumping."

"Well, that's a shame." Miss O'Reilly picked up her cane and walked out from the kitchen and into her living room, picking up the water bottle atop her counter and walking towards Ruby, "You've done very nice work for me today and I wish that there was a way for me to repay you other than giving you a water bottle and a pat on the back."

"You don't need to worry about, Miss O'Reilly, honest." Ruby admonished, accepting the bottle she was generously given, "This is my job, after all."

"Ah, and for all that you do, those two bosses of yours don't really give you much."

"Well, they _kinda_ give me a place of my own to live at instead of their couch, so I guess there's that…"

"Yes, you're right, but I'm sure they could do more for you."

Ruby physically stiffened as she headed towards the door, the woman she once assisted opened the one-and-a-half thick plank, though the guest stopped abruptly, eager to have the last, and polite, word. "Miss O'Reilly, I… I love Neo and Junior. Honestly, I do. They took me in, gave me a home and a job… Sure, their intentions may have been a little skewed at first, but they gave me chance at a better life than what I had and I'm here now because of them. I don't want to be a bother- Nor do I want to be a materialistic brat who cries when she doesn't get the newest phone or the best car. I just want to return the favor for when they helped me."

"Honey, you miss the point of what I'm trying to say." The older woman admonished, placing a caring hand on Ruby's shoulder, "I'm not saying that they don't do enough for you, I'm saying that for all that you do for everyone here, a lot of us feel that you don't get the recognition that we feel you deserve. Sometimes getting more than a pat on the back is a good thing, especially when you've earned it."

Ruby took her words in stride, but ultimately felt the opposite. Still, she couldn't stay here and argue all day; Neo needed her downstairs for something important. "I have to go, Miss O'Reilly." She said, causing the older woman to nod easily. She walked out of the apartment and groaned once the door closed. No, she didn't need new things, she didn't deserve recognition, she didn't need anything. What she needed was a roof over her head and a reason to keep going, to keep pushing. And that's just what Neo was giving her.

* * *

"Am I the only one still curious about her?"

"What are you talking about, Coco?"

"This Blake chick? She comes out of nowhere and says she knows you and Ruby-"

"- Because she does."

"That's beside the point, Velvet."

"Mm, not sure if it is." Velvet chuckled as she carefully combed her hair around her rabbit ears, her eyes locked on the mirror before her. "I think it's just blind luck that she got put up right next to Ruby… Literally. Honestly, it's kinda ironic to think about."

"What are you talking about?" Coco inquired, moving her scroll away from her face as she laid atop her bed, lazily.

"Well, back at the orphanage, Blake's bed was right next to Ruby's. I think _that's_ irony."

"Mm, not sure about that." Brown eyes sharply turned towards the normally flashy young woman across the room, who stuck her tongue out playfully. "Listen, I'm just not sure how much I trust her, considering how little I know about her. Besides, why does Ruby say she doesn't remember Blake? Got an explanation for _that_?"

The faunus deeply sighed and rolled her eyes before standing up from the mirror, "Well, if you'd lose your attitude I'd be happy to explain it." Coco pouted as Velvet sat on her sister's bed, turning her body to face the relaxed woman before her. "Blake, to put it simply, was an entirely different girl back then. She had short hair, just like Ruby does now, and she didn't wear a bow. Maybe that's what's got Ruby all mixed up? Plus her face has matured completely whereas Ruby is still as baby-faced as ever."

"Oh, baby-face! That's a good nickname."

"Oh, she also left when Ruby was about nine, probably more eight, though, if I remember the dates right."

"So childhood forgetfulness and an appearance change is blocking Ruby's memory?" Velvet nodded easily. "Well, it makes sense… But how did she remember you so easily?"

"Well, I didn't lose my accent nor did I change my look." The faunus replied, rubbing her chin in thought, "It's just a theory of mine, but if by Friday Ruby doesn't remember Blake then I'm going to sit down with her."

"And do what?"

"What do you think? See if I can jog her memory."

* * *

Weiss sat at the large table with perfect posture as she calmly devoured her dinner that sat before her. Today, she was all alone at the house, save for a few of the workers and her sister Winter, who was out on leave from the Atlas military. The older Schnee had opted out of going home with her father and instead chose to stay with her younger sister, for reasons that she wouldn't say, but Weiss knew. Their father wasn't exactly the best person to be around when work got… Hectic.

The Schnee sisters were staying in their families Vale vacation home, one of many properties they owned throughout the world. While Weiss was attending Beacon, it only made sense that she at least lived within the city limits of Vale to make an easy commute to the school. Her father would be as attentive as possible, but had business to attend to in her homeland of Atlas, which meant that he was only there maybe five percent of the time. Still, it was a blessing to not have him around.

But of course, that left her dear older sister to bother her.

"So, Weiss." Winter began, breaking the silence that the two had shared since their meal had begun, "I understand that your school went into a lockdown today."

The shorter Schnee across the table, rolled her icy-blue eyes as her shoulders slumped. "Oh, please, Winter, I've been here since noon and you're just now talking about this?"

"Well, I'm trying to start conversation. This meal is awfully dull without your friends to harass."

"Or a family to judge?"

"Right." Winter dropper her silverware onto her plate and leaned into the table, propping her elbows up and interlocking her fingers in front of her face, a pose she learned from her father from a young age. Winter wasn't fond of Weiss' friends, to say the least. She had done her part to stay away from the business world, and these kids were why. So snobbish, so annoying and entitled and Winter feared that they would be a bad influence on her dear young sibling. "So, since this is the first time I've actually gotten to talk to you-"

"-Which that statement alone can be disputed."

"-And if you interrupt me again I'm going to hit you." The military woman responded harshly, causing a sideways smirk from Weiss, "How was your day?"

"It was interesting for the first two hours."

"And I take it you were locked down past that?" Weiss nodded easily, "Well, tell me about those two hours. I know this morning you said you were going to talk to that one girl about what she did to Emerald… Oh, what was her name?"

"Ruby."

"Right."

Weiss nodded and did her best to hold back a blush, remembering the outcome of that conversation. "Well," She began with a mild stutter, "Our conversation was… Very one sided."

"You yelled at her, didn't you?"

"No, no! No… Not exactly…" Winter folded her arms in front of her chest as one of the helpers took her plate from her, glaring daggers at the heiress before her who shrunk in her seat. "Yes, I did."

" _And_? What else happened?"

"I insulted her, she fought back, she had a friend who came to her rescue, and then we went to gym class." The shorter teen briefly explained. "That's the short of it." She waved off the same helper that took Winter's food, silently saying that she wasn't done with her second course yet. Their home was more of a mansion, fit for a large family… Or in their case, a rich family. The dining hall held a table that could fit up to ten people, but could be added on to in case of emergency. "About an hour or so later the brat spiked a ball into Cinder's face."

" _Really_?" Weiss nodded carefully as her sister clapped with glee, "Wow, I think I like her."

"I don't think you would." The heiress reasoned, shaking her head as she continued to eat, "She's very… What's the word? Unprofessional? No, but that's close…"

"Incompetent?"

"I'm sure that's a good one, too, but still no." Weiss thought carefully, trying to find the right word to describe the brunette girl with red-streaks in her hair. She turned back towards the servant behind her and raised an eyebrow. "Got an idea?"

Short male with a towel around his arm stiffened up as he explained, "I believe the word you're looking for, Miss Schnee, is ' _unsuited'_."

Weiss snapped her fingers, "That's it. Unsuited. She's not exactly the most refined person in the world. She hangs out with Yang Xiao Long." The elder sibling carefully nodded in thought, "But if you give me some time, I'm sure I can work with her and straighten her out."

"You think so?" The tall young woman inquired, causing the teen across the table to blink in surprise, silently asking her own question. "Well, I'd be careful with that train of thought. Not everyone is cut out for proper life, after all."

* * *

A yellow rag sat in the sink as the faucet ran lukewarm water on it, flooding the sink as the fabric sat over the drain. Blake eyed the water as it barely filled half of the bowl before finally shutting the water off and taking the rag out, wringing it out as the sink finally began to drain. She flattened the rag out and ran it over her face, then down her neck before moving towards her bare torso. The night was young, barely eight o'clock, but she had decided to call it early; the events in school earlier left her rather drained.

As she washed up, she couldn't help but wonder about her neighbor, who had not come home yet. During the last few nights, she's been able to eavesdrop on the young teen next door with the help of her extra ears, her curiosity peaking for a long while now. Though most of her questions were answered during her talk with Velvet and Coco earlier today. As far as the rabbit faunus knew, Ruby had been at this complex for about three years. However, Ruby would still be at that foster home, but she ran away to Vale to take matters into her own hands. The matters, in this case, is finding her family.

The very reason the silver-eyed girl was stuck in that home was because she was supposed to be picked up by a family member after an accident of some kind. Over the years, though, it was clear that this wasn't going to happen. After a while, especially after Blake left, Ruby decided that she shouldn't wait for somebody. She should begin the search herself.

And once Velvet revealed that, Blake was instantly washed over with guilt. Truth be told, she wasn't adopted. No, she ran away, unable to take it anymore- the memory of that night burned her mind. She said goodbye to her friend, jimmied the lock to the window and used a tree outside of the house as a ladder to get to the ground safely. She had plans to find a nice foster home, something that she had heard about but never experienced, seeing as though she stayed at that place for so long. Over time, Ruby must have felt the same… _'She must have gotten the idea from me.'_ , Blake thought to herself. _'Clever girl.'_ She was proud of her old friend and also very happy that Ruby found a better life than what she found in the city…

Blake shook the thought away and tossed the towel in the bathtub to dry for the night, picking up a nearby towel and dried herself, taking a deep breath in an attempt to relax. Deep in her mind, the faunus now had more questions than answers: Why did Ruby really run away? Did she have any help? Who did she run to or how did she end up here? How in the world did she get into Beacon? And most of all, why doesn't she remember…? Her mind kept running as she shut off the bathroom light and walked into her bedroom, picking up her black yakuta and throwing it over herself. The lights in her apartment were all off, save for the one in the kitchen that only stayed dim, but it wouldn't matter; she could see clear as day regardless.

She sat beside her bed and picked up her scroll, opening it to a newspaper app as she got cozy with her blankets. She was right where she wanted to be: Night time with nothing to do, no lights, no work, curtains closed and her books. First, Blake wanted to catch up on her news, then she'd finish the tome she started in school today. Her screen was dimmed to avoid blinding the reader, and even though her eyes glossed over the words, her mind just wasn't absorbing the information of that article. She had failed to clear her mind and was still thinking about that girl next door, who she could hear rummaging around her room for something. Sure, the walls were thick enough, but her hearing was better than that… What the hell was Ruby looking for? It sounded like paper… She could also hear grunting? Maybe her work was caught in her backpack?

As Blake imagined the sight of Ruby searching for… Whatever it was she was searching for, the faunus' mind took her away to problem solving: Was it concerning that Ruby had yet to bring up that home? Sure. But maybe she didn't want too. Maybe it was just bad memories she wanted to keep away. Besides, another reason for her being so confused is that Blake herself had changed so much since they had last seen each other. Her voice matured, she had a much more vicious glare in her eyes, the bow. Yet both Ruby and Velvet hadn't changed a bit…

 _'Or maybe you're thinking too far into this and she doesn't_ want _to remember you.'_

Blake rolled her eyes and sighed to herself, _'Oh, brain, you know I just love your usual brand of self-pity and a lack of any form of positivity. Really, you bring out the best in me.'_

 _'Why thank you!'_

 _'Asshole.'_ She chastised herself as her ears twitched, hearing a small 'aha' from the next room. Whatever Ruby was looking for, she found it, and quickly ran out of the room. In fact, she ran out of the apartment entirely. Amber eyes blinked as their owner raised a brow, jumping off the bed with curiosity as she walked to the door. Ensuring her yakuta was closed, Blake opened the door slightly and peeked her head out, seeing the sight of a short girl in a red jacket running into the stairs… What the hell is going on here? She's still not done?

That's another question for the list: Just who are Neo and Junior and what are their intentions for Ruby?

* * *

"Are you serious about this, Ruby?" Neo inquired honestly, observing the paper before her as Junior sat on the other side of the table, a cigar lit in his mouth. "There's probably some strict health requirements to go along with this…"

"And like being healthy is a bad thing?"

The man huffed, calling attention to himself, "That's not the point, skinny."

"I'd like _you_ to stay out of it, mister." Neo chastised, setting the packet down and leaned into the table with a sigh, "I knew we shouldn't have talked about this now…"

Silver eyes glanced at the man across from her, who ran his fingers through his short hair, and then towards the woman beside her, who held up her head with both hands firmly on her forehead. "Is… everything alright?" She inquired honestly, hoping for either of them to respond in kind.

"Yes, it is." Neo quickly responded, sitting back in her chair, "I don't know what to say, I mean… More power to you… Why do you need to talk to us about it?"

"Well, Professor Goodwitch said that I need my parent or guardian's permission, so…"

"Yeah, _legal_ guardian." Junior said, shaking his head, "we're not that."

"You've gotten away with it so far!"

"Ru, they'll actually look into this. It requires a health screening and our signature. They'll go through the city files to make sure that it's all legit, I know how that process works for Beacon, I had a friend who went there once." She glanced at her husband, who raised his eyebrows as her let a puff of smoke escaped his lips, pointing it away from the girls and towards a vent out of respect. "I'd love to sign you off, but doing so blows our cover completely."

Ruby took in a deep breath while closing her eyes, letting the stale air fill her lungs before calmly exhaling. After a long day, she didn't want to argue… Then again… "Okay," She began, calmly, "If I may… Screw the cover." Both Junior and Neo eyes each other, then eyed their assistant as she continued, "I get it, we need to lay low so the city doesn't come after me, but Beacon and Signal are institutions that would gladly hand over those files of me if ever those… What did you call them, Neo?"

"Bureaucratic assholes?"

"Right! If they wanted those files, they could get them with no issue. I've been out in the world for three- nearly four- years now. They don't know I'm gone and they don't care, so I say screw it! Caution to the wind! Let's do it!"

Once again, the dichromatic-eyed woman peered at her husband, who shook his head with a smirk. Of course he wouldn't get involved with this, he barely cared enough to be here now. Which meant that his wife would have to take over and try to reason with the hyped up girl.

"Okay, Ru, I hear you." She said, "There's just… It's not that simple. There's a lot going on and we don't know that they're not looking for you… I'd just be a little careful in just diving in headlong like this." Ruby physically deflated in her seat, which caused Neo's heart to drop. She hated telling Ruby no, and for the first time the teen seemed excited for doing something at school! Normally she'd be forced into showing school pride by going to the games she never cared for, or going to the dances despite her low self-image, but now she wanted to do this! She _wanted_ to play volleyball!

She was really growing up, wasn't she?

"How about this?" Neo began, leaning forward in her seat and propping her elbows on her legs, "We have until the end of the semester to get this in, right?"

"Right." Ruby nodded easily.

"We will consider this, we'll weigh our options and talk it-"

"We?"

" _We'll talk it over._ " She finished harshly, glaring daggers at her husband, "And in time when we have a plan set up, we'll sign you up, okay?"

"Wha- r-really? You mean it?" Neo nodded, causing the child to lightly squeal with glee, pulling her into as massive a hug as she could muster. _'Maybe we're a little quick to judge on that whole_ growing up _thing, huh?'_ Neo thought to herself as she accepted the embrace, wrapping her arms around the teen with a smile, her chin barely resting on Ruby's shoulders. "Thank you thank you!"

"You happy now, Rose?" Junior's voice broke, stopping anything else from happening and forcing the two girls before him to break their embrace early. Ruby glanced over at the dichromatic-eyed woman, who nodded slowly, causing her to nod as well. "Good. Beat it. It's getting late and you've got school tomorrow."

"But… It's only nine?" Now it was his turn to glare daggers into the teen's soul, causing her to physically stiffen. "Eep… Okay, I-I'll talk to you two tomorrow!" She cried as she rushed out of the room, leaving the packet behind on the table. Neo sat back in her chair and blankly stared at her husband, who shrugged carelessly.

"What? I wasn't wrong."

"Eleven o'clock is late on a school night, Junior."

"Meh. You two talked out what you needed to talk out. I ended a conversation that was finished." His wife continued her glare, causing him to release one last puff of smoke before extinguishing the cigar. "I don't want her to be here all night. Sue me."

"Maybe I will." He shook his head as he rose from the table as she shook her head in annoyance, "You can't keep treating her like that. She's a human being too, _and_ _your_ employee!"

"treating her like what?" He asked with a shrug, "Also, she's your assistant, so she's your employee and your responsibility. Not mine."

"She works for us, damnit! So she's our responsibility! God forbid if anything happens to her it's on us!"

"And I'm trying to leave her out of a position where something would happen to her." He said harshly, slamming his fists into the table, "What are you trying to do?"

She reciprocated the gesture, the look in her eyes as intense as his, "I'm trying to give her a life outside of these walls. Unless you haven't noticed but she doesn't really _belong_ in our world. She's suited for much _better_."

"Pfft, yeah, right. Keep telling yourself that." He growled, walking back into the bedroom and slamming the door. " _You_ can keep the couch, tonight!"

Outside the apartment, Ruby leaned against the wall, her face holding a worried look as she heard the duo fighting. She knew it wasn't right to be a fly on the wall and eavesdrop like this, nor would it be her place to get involved… But still, these two were family… What was happening to them?

 _'Am_ I _to blame?'_

* * *

 **Huh, interesting development, eh? So, Yang has concerns for Ruby's wellbeing, Coco is suspicious, Velvet doesn't care for what Coco has to say, Blake is still making observations, and Weiss has plans for Ruby, all the while our silver-eyed star is learning more about her bosses! All the while you enjoy the spoils!**

… **Well, for what little spoils I give, that is.**

 **That being said, what did you think? Not much to look at, I know, but I think it served its purpose. Next chapter, we'll see what Weiss has in store for our little flower, as well as if Blake will grow a pair and confront the same girl about any shared past they might have.**

 **Other than that, we've got a lot in store for next chapter and it might take a little while to get it out- try two weeks+, just to be safe. I've just got some projects and finals that are coming up that might take up most, if not all of my time, so… You're gonna have to stay wondering for a little while… Sorry. Still, I'll do my very best to get you the best I can do.**

 **I hope you all enjoyed, leave a review a tell me what you think!**

 **Until Next Time.**


	11. Back to Normal?

**Managed to work this out through my amazing procrastination. Now, I stand before you all with too much damn school work to do and not nearly enough time to do it all. At least, there's no time with that attitude!** **I'm not sure what else to say, other than after this next week, I plan on getting at least 3 chapters out to you all before my next semester begins. All goes well, I'll hopefully hit that mark and then some.**

 **Hope you all enjoy and I'll see you at the bottom!**

* * *

The light turned green and the bow-wearing driver accelerated down the fairly lit street, now barely two blocks from the school. She and her passenger agreed on going passed the incident scene that left their school on lockdown the day before. Ruby wanted to for curiosities sake, but Blake was interested in seeing if the house had any damage to it. There had been reports of the police breaching the house and both wanted to see if that was true. The drove passed the usual turnoff and down the block, where a quick right turn on the next light will give them their target house, which sat on the corner of the block.

"It's coming up." Ruby said, keeping her eyes locked on the buildings that passed her window, easily leaning into her seat. Blake slowed the car as the traffic light turned red, eager craning her neck to peer out of the passenger side window and see a house with two boarded up windows and yellow warning tap surrounding the property. "Wow, they didn't do too bad, did they?"

Blake shook her head, agreeing with her friend, "Nah, minimal damage." Being in the turn lane, she glanced out of her side window and saw nobody coming, giving her a chance to turn on red and look at the front of the house, where even in the early morning light (or lack thereof) the duo was still able to see the front door and large window beside it boarded up, a smudge in the porch. "Woah!"

"How did that happen?" Ruby inquired honestly, her face lighting up with excitement and wonder at the damage.

"They probably charged in with flashbangs and stunners, maybe even smoked them out."

"Wow. I'm almost surprised at the lack of damage." The driver nodded in agreement, finally driving on, speeding up to the proper limit that the signs allowed. Technically it was a residential area, so thirty was the fastest Blake could do. "Well, that's a good way to start the day, huh?"

"Admiring a damaged house where two sex-crazed psycho's kept us on lockdown and shut down the block for four hours?" Blake asked with a grin, raising her brow at her passenger, who refused to shrink at the pressure.

"Yeah! Better their house than mine."

"Your house is an apartment on the third floor of that complex, Ruby…" Blake quipped as she turned into the parking lot, immediately driving to as close to the door as possible. There was only a handful of cars there now, but the only spaces taken were the ones that were restricted for instructors. Still, her eyes locked onto a familiar gold Grand Prix sitting in the space. She raised her brow as Ruby rubbed the back of her head, not paying attention to her surroundings.

"Well… You're not wrong, actually."

"Uh-huh." The driver responded with a smirk, turning off the car and unbuckling her seatbelt. "Come on, you little freeloader, let's go to class."

"A little early for class, isn't it?"

"Oh, don't even give me that." Blake fired back immediately, her grin turned to an incredulous expression, "You're always complaining about getting here early enough! Well, it's seven o'clock, we're at school. For why so early, I don't know." She finally jumped out of her car, as did Ruby and reached for her bag in the back seat as the sun began to illuminate the early October sky. Her passenger, who threw her own backpack around her shoulders (having it sitting with her in the front seat) was standing beside her driver and ready to go, cocking her head to the side with a raised right brow.

"I'll have you know that we're here so early because we forgot to go shopping yesterday and I don't have breakfast stuff at my place, thank you very much."

"Oh? We?" Blake countered with a raised brow of her own, "Who's ' _we'_? You and Neo?"

Wha-? No. My family?"

Blake stopped in front of the door and easily stared into her friend's silver eyes, seeing the desperation within her look and knowing that this was the best time to push. "Really? Family? You mean the one that I have yet to _hear_ let alone _see_?"

"What are you saying, Blake? Are you eavesdropping on us?"

Amber eyes closed as their owner shook her head easily, "Nope." She easily replied, popping the 'P' at the end, "I'm just curious to know where your parents are? After all, a fifteen-year-old can't be living all on her own for so long like that. It could be dangerous."

Quickly, Ruby intervened and stopped her neighbor from continuing with a frustrated look in her eyes. "I hear what you're saying but understand that the situation can get kinda wacky from time to time. Sometimes they can't make it home and that's okay."

"So they don't come right home from work?"

"N-no, no they don't!" Despite the slight stutter, she continued, "They have a friend's house closer to their work than our apartment is."

"So they've been living with this friend for the last five or six days and not their daughter? Seems kinda negligent, don't you think?"

"No, for reasons that you wouldn't understand just yet." Ruby's harsh look quickly formed into a softer, more pleading gaze, "Listen, Blake… My home life is kinda…"

"A mess?" It wasn't meant as an insult, but Blake still kicked herself for saying it, despite Ruby's affirming nod.

"That's a good way to describe it. It can get kinda crazy sometimes, so… Just, please, I don't like to talk about it."

 _'Just how far will you go for this lie, little girl?'_ \- "Okay, I understand." Blake nodded, her bow twitching slightly as a light breeze blew by, chilling the two. The one thing about Spring and Fall mornings on a coastal city like Vale was that you could never know if the temperature would stay the same, but also whenever a breeze came through it was always, always cool. There has never been a warm breeze so long as Ruby or Blake could remember in their time in Vale. "How about we go in before the wind picks up again? These skirts are going to be the death of me.

"I agree."

Ruby opened the door and allowed Blake to lead down the hall before quickly trying to catch up, all the while worried about how snoopy her neighbor is being. She's going to have to run this by Velvet and see what she should do, because despite an eerie feeling her, Ruby still had a feeling that she knew Blake from somewhere… It couldn't be the home; she'd be able to recognize her if she was from there. But those amber eyes…

"Alright, Blake," Ruby declared, "You've had a few days to get used to the school, so for now I'm going to have you show me where the rooms are." Blake quickly glanced behind her and smirked cockily, "I want to see what you know."

"Challenging me, are you?"

"Yes I am." Ruby easily replied as they walked passed their usual before-class hangout, "Since we're going for breakfast, I want you to show me where the cafeteria is."

"Hey, Ruby."

"Hey Yang." Off the corner of her eye she was able to see familiar blonde hair with a busty young woman laying on a couch. She slowly turned to face the familiar person, only to see familiar lilac eyes staring at a scroll. "Yang?" Ruby called, bringing the busty blonde's attention towards her. Yang blinked before smiling as Ruby checked the clock on her phone, "You're early… Like, _really_ early. Why?"

"Nice to see you too." The lilac eyed teen quipped before answering the question as Blake stood by awkwardly, leaning against a corner wall, "Well, I got punked."

"What?"

"Well, my dad pulled a prank on me this morning, bursting through my door screaming _'Yang you're late! Yang you slept in! You gotta go, it's class time!'_ And being the gullible idiot that I am, I didn't bother to check the clock, quickly took a shower and ran out the door." Both of her friends smiled, Ruby hiding a small giggle as Yang explained further, waving her hands around theatrically, "I got halfway to school before I realized what time it was and said that I won't give him the satisfaction and just came here… So, I've been here for about ten minutes now."

Blake nodded with a smirk at the tale as Ruby leaned against the wall, "Wow. You're father sounds like quite the jokester."

"You don't know the half of it, honey. This just means that he's upped the battle, though." Yang rubbed her hands together sinisterly before glancing back at the young teen against the wall, "So, uh, since I had to run out the door so quickly, I never got to eat breakfast… Are you-?"

"Wanna come get some grub with us, Yang?"

"Please."

Ruby rolled her eyes and bobbed her head towards Blake, gesturing for the blonde to follow. "She's showing me what she's learned about the school so far."

"Oh! Just like I did for you on your first week?"

Once again, Ruby rolled her eyes as she bounced off the wall, following both Yang and Blake as they walked ahead, "Yes, Yang," She said with an annoyed tone, "I'm using _your_ lesson on her. Thanks for the idea."

"Anything I can do to help." Yang threw her arms around both straps of her backpack as Blake led the way towards the cafeteria, the former throwing her arms behind her head as Ruby caught up to her taller friends. "So how was your days, girls?"

The amber-eyed teen shrugged while Ruby bobbed her head, "Busy." She simply said, gripping her own bag, "I'll be honest, I've head better."

"Oh? What's wrong?"

"Nothing, just a busy day…" Both Yang and Blake locked eyes, the latter shrugging, easily showing that she wanted to push this. "All I know is that there's something wrong with the water, and it's not just our building. We thought the plumbing was faulty, but it turns out that the store owner's behind us were having some issues too."

Blake turned her head around with concern written on her face, still walking as she recognized the hall where the dining hall was located. "Anything I should know, considering I live there?"

"Uh, well… It's gonna take a while for the water to heat up? I dunno, I'll be honest." The red-themed teen shrugged, "They won't tell me the problem and I haven't faced anything, so I can't tell you. Sorry."

"They really like to keep their employees updated, don't they?"

"That's not fair, Yang." Ruby sighed dejectedly as the group approached the entrance to the dining hall, "They don't even know the problem. The cities supposed to come out tomorrow and look at it."

Blake opened the door and allowed her friends to walk in, her expression being unusually cocky and sarcastic, causing Yang to raise her eyebrows. "I wouldn't get too sure of yourself, if I were you. This place is bigger than you think." Amber eyes blinked as the blonde walked on, catching up to her red-jacket wearing friend, who wasn't waiting around for the slowpokes behind her. The raven-haired teen left behind had to hurry as her two companions got in line for the school's breakfast. Beacon's cafeteria had a wide assortment of dietary options for their students, but one was allowed only so much to deal with the thousand plus students that attended class.

Like many schools, as well, the academy had a program for their less fortunate students to make their meals more affordable, something that Ruby took part of- even if she wouldn't admit to it. It would just worry her friends more if they knew.

As the group walked in and grabbed their trays, Yang noticed a more silent mood out of the shorter teen in front of her. Normally, in the morning, she was up and ready to go, making jokes or at least more talkative, but today she seemed… Off. Had she been like this all day, or was she still worked up over Kari? Lord knows Yang was…

"What's wrong, Ruby?" She inquired honestly, picking up two halves of a waffle and a muffin packet, causing the silver-eyed teen to peer up at her friend who kept her gaze on the food in front of her. "You seem quiet."

Blake stood nearby, taking a carton of milk and rejoining her friends near a hot-light that was used to keep the food warm. Ruby picked up for small pancakes and a packet of syrup before acquiring the breakfast sausage, thanking the ladies behind the counter for making her meal. "It's nothing, Yang." She easily said, turning her attention back to the question. "I'm just kinda tired, is all. I had a late night."

"You, tired? No way."

"Like I said, I had a late night." The group approached the cash register with their school ID's in hand, something that Blake realized she still hadn't gotten yet. The school took her picture but she had still yet to receive the plastic with a barcode and her picture. They said it should be ready by now… Oh well, she was in the system so all she had to do was give her name. Ruby scanned her barcode and was given a pass, owing nothing for breakfast today but would have to pay her three-dollar fee for lunch later. Worth it. She stood by and waited for Yang and Blake, both of whom were taking their sweet time fishing money out of their pockets. "We got busy for work and I wasn't able to take a nap before everything got started."

The lilac-eyed teen nodded by her friends explanation, but didn't buy it. She glanced at Blake, who shook her head easily and whispered 'She's lying.'. Blake knew that Yang knew that Ruby was hiding something, but wondered just how much the blonde knew. How much did she want to know? It was clear she wanted to help, so how far was she willing to go? Then again, Blake had to ask herself if she was willing to blow her friends cover right now, given the warning that Velvet gave. She bit her tongue and left it where it lied, allowing Yang to take over with a small nod.

"So you missed some sleep and that's all?"

"Uh-huh."

"Oh my god, you are such a bad liar."

Silver eyes went wide as Yang went to find a seat, Blake chuckling. Ruby didn't realize she had a tell where she slightly cocked her head to the side- either side- and blinked twice. It wasn't easy to see, but once you witnessed it once it was hard to let it go. "How could you tell?" Blake caught up with her friends in the middle of the hall, taking an end seat of a table. Ruby sat at the end, facing a wall while Yang sat across from her, facing the kitchen. Blake decided to sit beside her neighbor, setting her tray down and picking up the plastic-ware while the interrogation continued.

"Come on, what's wrong?" Yang pushed as she took a bite of the waffle, "I promise you'll feel better about it."

"It's really none of your business, Yang."

"Ah, you say no, but your eyes say yes." Ruby sighed in annoyance, rubbing her face as Blake watched on. She wasn't going to intervene; she knew that Ruby had something she had to get off her chest and this was probably the best way to get it out. "Hey, Bu, how many times have you had something eating away at you, huh?"

"A few…" She grumbled as she looked away.

"And out of those times, how many times did I say 'Talk to me, you'll feel better'?"

"All of those times…"

"And did you-"

"I get it, Yang!" Ruby snapped, slamming her fists into the table, causing Blake to flinch, but Yang stayed steady. She was calling an angry bluff with the shorter flower before her, and her gamble might pay off. The angry glare in those silver eyes quickly wore off as Ruby unclenched her fists, her facial expression lightening up as she seemed to shrink in her seat. "It's… Kinda personal, is all."

Once again, Blake and Yang locked eyes, both nodding to each other. The former slid down closer to her neighbor as Yang reached out and grabbed her friend's hand, offering a familiar, caring gaze. "Well, I'm here for you, regardless."

Ruby carefully nodded as she thought of the words to use. She didn't want to be too obvious with this, but at the same time she did want to talk to someone about this and Yang wasn't one to easily judge. She always had something helpful to say while also keeping the mood from getting too low. The busty blonde just had a way with conversations like these…

"Well…" Ruby began with a heavy sigh, "I have this friend… Friends, actually, plural. They're a couple, both friends of mine." Lilac eyes stayed steadily glued to the teen as she awkwardly continued, "Well, they've started to have… Trouble with their marriage… Well, their relationship as a whole." She stuttered for a moment, pausing in her tracks. Yang carefully observed Ruby's eyes, noticing that the young teen had tears beginning to well. She gripped Ruby's hand tighter, hoping to jolt her back to the world. "They've started fighting and the last two or three times that they were yelling at each other it… Sounds as though that somehow or another I'm at fault."

"How so?" Yang quickly asked, trying to get her friend to elaborate more.

"Well, it's little things, you know? They ask me to leave and then they start yelling at each other, and some of the things they say just makes me think that I have something to do with it?"

She quickly dashed the tears away from her eyes, but not before having a caring arm be wrapped around her shoulders. Silver eyes quickly turned up to ensure that Yang was still seated in front of her, which she was. So who…? Turning her gaze to a body on her left, Ruby gazed into worried, caring amber eyes of her neighbor, quickly understanding that it was Blake that had gripped her into an embrace. Yang smiled as the duo before her locked eyes, seeing a glimmer in the shorter teen that she hadn't seen before. Yet, in her own mind, she considered the positive influence that Blake could give for her troubled friend.

Still, something had to be said now that the information had been revealed. Yang had to make sure that Ruby new something important; something that every child in this situation needed to know. With a deep sigh that mimicked Ruby's earlier, the blonde began: "Ruby… When married-couples have… Trouble, they'll find anything to blame and won't need any reason to fight. Literally the air between them is so tense that anything will set off a chain reaction and lead into another fight. So yes, something you _could have_ done could set off a fight," Ruby blinked with surprise, but Yang continued quickly. "-but I don't think that you're the main cause of their problems. Trust me, you'd be facing _a lot_ more hate than that.

Think of married couples fighting like me and my mom. I see her _maybe_ twice a year, and whenever I do the air is so thick that you can cut it with a knife. Why? Because there's just so much animosity between us and anything that either of us say will be taken the wrong way. Sometimes people just have a moment, a day or even a sentence said that is taken the wrong way and, well… There's nothing you can do about it, after that."

The raven-haired teen blinked at the mention of Yang's mother, this being the first time she ever heard of it, but shook the thought away, telling herself to pursue it later. "But… What if-?"

" _You didn't cause it_ , Ruby. Trust me. They wouldn't want to even _talk_ to you if you were the problem for their marriage."

"It's true." Blake nodded, "People are very strange creatures."

"I get that, but something ju-"

"Ah-up-up-up! No." Yang called, holding up her free index finger and pointing it at her friend, "It doesn't matter, Ru. Right now, these two are going to town on each other and you're caught up in the mix. I get that they're your friends, _whoever they are_ , but there's _nothing_ that you can do to help them. You didn't cause this, _but_ your presence might not make the situation any better."

"But… How will I do my job, then?"

"Oh, so it's your bosses, eh?"

"W-wait! I didn't-"

Blake began to chuckle, "Actually, yeah, you basically just gave it away." The brunette teen in her arms sighed before running her hands through her hair. "I didn't realize they were having such trouble. Then again, even last week when they were showing me the apartment, he seemed… A bit disgruntled."

"Yeah, I haven't given it much thought until yesterday, but now that I think about it, their playful little arguments are now just hateful tirades on both sides… I don't know what to do but I want to do something even though I know I can't!"

"Like I said." Yang jumped back in, "Keep your head down and try to avoid a dangerous situation. I know you can identify those, you're a smart girl. Plus, you know you can talk to me anytime about anything."

"Count me in, too." Blake affirmed with a nod, "In case you can't get a hold of Yang, I'll have your back."

Silver eyes glanced at both girls beside her before closing, their owner nodded in thanks. "That means a lot."

"No problem, kiddo."

"Also, nobody else knows about this… Please?" Both of the taller teens beside her nodded in silence, letting her know that they'll hold her secret. "Thanks."

* * *

The trio sat in their usual seats for their first class of the day: Science with Peach. The school had declared that the schedule will proceed without issue and that they'll use a snow day to compensate, leaving the students with seven cancelled days left. Seems like enough, but for a coastal city like Vale, not nearly so. Professor Peach had come in earlier than usual, which allowed the three girls to take the seats that they usually take. At least, Blake assumed that this was their usual spot, considering her first day of class.

The bow-wearing teen pondered a few things as Yang and Ruby traded notes from the last class, both preparing for a lab day that Peach had prepared and was now out fetching supplies for. For starters, she thought back to what Yang said about her mother. Clearly the two didn't have a good relationship, and given what she's heard so far, Yang favorited her father more than her mother. Now, Blake has yet to meet either, so she shouldn't judge yet.

Another point she pondered over was Ruby and her housing crisis, or her situation, as a whole. The raven-haired teen kicked herself for approaching the teen with red-streaks in her hair too early about this, but even Velvet said that the earlier the better. She was fine with Ruby's lapse in memory, but she was worried for her current position. She was caught in the middle of a failing relationship of two people she clearly looked up to.

Shaking herself free of these thoughts, Blake rejoined the conversation between the eerily similar, yet wildly different teens before her. "I'm telling you those notes are right, Yang." Ruby argued, "Remember, I'm the one who's awake in the morning."

Yang waved her off, rolling her eyes as she did so. "Yeah, yeah, all I'm saying is that I don't remember this part of the discussion."

Blake grinned and intervened as more students began to pour in, "Maybe it's because you weren't paying attention?"

"No help from the peanut gallery, please."

"Thank you, Blake." Ruby complimented, causing Blake to smile as Yang folded her arms in a pout. As she did, through the throng of students the blonde was able to make out the sight of a familiar couple: Jaune and Pyrrha. "Well, well, well," Ruby taunted as the duo approached, silver eyes locked on the blonde young man beside the athletic redhead. "Finally decided to drop the game and come to class?"

"Hey," Jaune whined, preparing his defense by raising his right hand, "I was here yesterday."

"Yeah, but yesterday isn't Monday." Yang quipped, easily.

"Alright, fine, I know what you're thinking and the timing of all of this was a bit obvious, but Mimi was _actually_ sick on Saturday and then she got _me_ sick." Ruby sarcastically nodded as Yang cocked her head, neither believing the story for a second, "You don't have to believe me, I know what's right."

"I talked to his mom yesterday." Pyrrha defended, "Turns out it's the truth."

"Thank you, Pyrrha. Now I don't wanna hear any more of this!"

Yang and Ruby eyed each other, both smirking and the former deciding to keep up the fun. "How easy is it for mom to lie and for the girlfriend to believe it? I wonder?"

"Yang!" The emerald-eyed athlete hollered, causing the blonde to giggle.

"I'm joking," The blonde easily waved off, "It's just too easy to mess with you two."

"Ha-ha." Jaune sarcastically deadpanned, turning his attention towards the bow-wearing young woman beside his girlfriend, "I don't believe we've met before." He said, extending his hand, "Jaune Arc."

Blake met the handshake with an oddly firm grip, surprising the young man, "Blake. Nice to meet you."

As Pyrrha and Jaune sat down, Yang turned her attention to the front of the class where a familiar face and a familiar foe walked in. Cinder and her crew eyed the blonde, but the leader of the group locked eyes with Ruby, causing a chill to run down her spine. Weiss was the last person in, she too glanced at the silver-eyed teen. "Just keep walkin'." Yang muttered to nobody in particular. "We don't need to cause a scene today."

The red-themed teen beside her noticed the murmurs of her friend and raised an eyebrow critically. She knew that Yang and Cinder had a bad history, but didn't know the story. Pyrrha would never tell it, either, saying that she felt guilty over it and she wasn't able to make sense of Nora's version of the tale. Now is probably a better time than ever, right? What could go wrong?

'Except getting yelled at again.'

She shook the negative thought away; Yang would never do that to her. With a slight nudge, Ruby easily gained Yang's attention, "I never got the story, Yang… Why don't we like those kids?"

"Aside for the fact that they're a bunch of-"

"I know, I know, the usual name calling," Ruby deadpanned, "But you seem to have a special hatred for them?"

Yang sighed deeply, closing her eyes as she exhaled slowly and put her right hand upon Ruby's head, softly, "It's a lot of drama and a long story and you don't need to know. I'll tell you when you're older."

"Don't give me that, Yang. I've been confronted by these guys a few times, now, I deserve to know why I should fight back if it doesn't concern me."

"Ru, you're my friend, _that's_ why they're against you." Yang affirmed, "Listen, one of these days I'll let you know why there's so much bad blood between us, but until then let's just focus on class, okay?"

"I'm not letting this go, easily." Ruby begrudgingly huffed, causing Yang to smirk.

"I wouldn't expect you to." The class slowly began to fill, the group staying relatively silent except for the mushy talk from Pyrrha and Jaune, causing the group to shift awkwardly. They didn't usually care much for it, but sometimes it wasn't exactly welcome. Blake eyed the couple and wondered just how this fling happened, as the duo seemed to be complete opposites. Then again, looks can be deceiving; from what she's seen out of Pyrrha, she expected the athlete to have higher standards than him. Not that he wasn't anything less than desirable, but Blake just didn't see whatever Pyrrha saw.

Nora and Ren walked in just as the bell rang, taking the desk in front of Ruby and Yang and keeping quiet as the class began to get louder and louder. The shorter of the two turned back to the silver-eyed teen with a pleading look, causing Ruby to worry until she heard her friend's voice, "I'm really, really sorry about yesterday, Ruby. Honestly, I can't-"

"Don't worry about it, Nora." Ruby sighed with a small, forgiving smile, "I'm over it."

"Well I'm not!"

"It's no big deal, honest." She turned to the blonde beside her, seeking assistance, "Right, Yang? Help me out, here?"

"Oh no, I'm _still_ mad about that."

"Why!? Why are you making a big deal about this?!"

"Because it's what she implied, Ru." Yang explained, "She basically said that your parents neglect you and don't feed you enough and then had the gall to insult your weight. You mean to tell me that you're not in the least bit upset?"

The brunette shook her head easily, sitting back in her chair. "No, because I don't want to make a big deal about it and still don't. If you don't mind I'd like to not talk about this anymore. Nora, your apology isn't needed but appreciated." She folded her arms, her entire expression saying that she was done talking about it, causing Yang and Nora to glance at each other and shrug. Blake watched carefully, examining how her neighbor handled these situations. Once upon a time, she wouldn't be able to defend herself properly without fear of repercussion, barely opting to speak. Now look at her! A hint of pride welled within Blake, despite the fact that she didn't do much to help in the long run.

Off of the corner of her amber eye, Blake noticed that Jaune and Pyrrha were doing something to paper. It wasn't long before she realized that it was a makeshift paper airplane, and a poorly made one at that. He chuckled and sent it flying across the room, causing a group across the aisle to catch it and send it back. Though, as most paper planes do, it went sideways and towards the door, where a familiar instructor was there to intercept it.

Professor Peach walked in and easily caught a paper airplane, crumpling the sheet up and throwing in the trash with an unamused sigh. "That was a crappy build, Jaune."

"Oh come on!" The blonde boy cried, "How did you know it was me?"

"Because you just told me." The instructor winked, letting him know that he just fell for her trap and causing him to deflate in his seat. His friends chuckled at his luck as Peach set down a stack of papers. "Alright, students, if you recall, we have a lab today." The class cheered and she smiled, ready to dash their dreams, "And _I'm_ choosing your groups!" A collective wave of 'aww's' went about, the newly dejected students ready to give up on today. "If I left it up to you all you wouldn't get anything done."

"That's the point!" Yang yelled with a grin, to the classes enjoyment.

"Be that as it may, I'm the teacher so…" She turned to the blonde and blew a raspberry, turning to her computer and turning on a projector above the room, allowing the screen to warm up and appear on the board behind her. "I have a chart here and it'll show you who you're grouped with. Find your partner and get everything you need."

The screen loaded, revealing a list of names. It seemed to go in alphabetical order. Yang had searched for her name, but found it closer to the top, next to a Blake Belladonna. Turning to the bow-wearing teen beside her and nodding. Looks like it's you and I, hot stuff." Amber eyes simply blinked, their owner returning the nod. Blake turned towards the list and admired the pairings: Ren and Jaune were now grouped together, so were Cinder and Pyrrha, which caused her to worry- given what she knew about Cinder thus far. Though, it was the name further down the list that surprised her and Yang the most. Right next to Ruby's name was Weiss Schnee.

Both the heiress and the young teen locked eyes, the latter feeling another sense of dread as those icy-blue eyes once again seemed to pierce her soul. Still, she couldn't do much about it, now. Everyone in the class packed their things and met their would-be partners, trying to find an open space to sit and work on the project. For some reason, though, Yang couldn't help but worry for her young friend. Weiss was a hell of a worker, but she could have a bad attitude sometimes, which was more than enough cause for concern.

 _'Just gonna have to trust Ruby…'_

* * *

"Alright, Blake," Yang began, "What do you know about momentum and energy transfer?"

"Other than the basics?"

"Gravity, right?" Blake nodded, pulling out the few notes she had. Luckily, she had paid attention during class on Monday, so that meant that she had everything that she would need for today's lab. Yang had grabbed the paper while she grabbed the supplies; A yard-stick, a penny, a quarter, a marble and small wooden block. "Let's see the questions, here… Huh…" Yang examined the sheet as her classmates began to proceed with the experiments. "Okay, so all we have to do is put the yard stick on an incline and time every object as it rolls down to the ground. Sounds simple enough."

"Okay." Blake picked up the stick and held it at a slight angle. They had five different angles to work with and they would have to make observations of the sort. "Ready when you are." She glanced up at Yang, expecting the blonde to be reading the sheet still, yet found her to be eyed an alabaster-themed heiress and red-themed friend across the room. "Yang, hello?"

"O-oh! Blake, yeah, sorry." She apologized awkwardly, "Just got a little distracted is all." She picked up the copper coin and flipped it towards her friend, who easily caught it and eyed the blonde curiously. "I'm good, honest! Let's get to work, now."

With a deep breath, Blake raised the yard stick off the ground slightly and set the coin flat, watching as it steadily slid down the flat surface. Yang had her phone out and was keeping the time as well as manning the paper while Blake committed the experiments. Peeking over her shoulder, she was able to see through her blonde hair and watch Weiss and Ruby carefully. The two were talking, the heiress having a familiar scowl on her face as the silver-eyed friend didn't seem to notice or mind, though for some reason seemed to shrink beneath the harsh gaze.

"Yang." Blake called, causing her partner to snap back to reality. "Got the time?"

"O-oh! Um…"

"You weren't paying attention, were you?"

"I-uh…" She stuttered, but realized that she had no other choice but to give in. "No, I wasn't."

Blake sighed and rolled her eyes, picking up the coin and preparing to redo the experiment, carefully trying to keep her hold over the stick steady. "She'll be fine, you know." She said easily, causing Yang to raise an eyebrow. "Ruby will be. She's a big girl, Yang, you gotta give her some space to grow."

"I don't know what you're talking about." The blonde replied with a pout, causing her friend to raise a brow with a deadpanned look.

"Yang, you're almost literally peeking over your shoulder to watch her. I cannot think of a better metaphor than this!" Yang's pout deepened for a moment, her arms crossed in front of her chest but she soon understood what Blake was saying and her look softened. Blake is probably looking out for Ruby, too, being her neighbor and all. She deserves an explanation.

With a deep sigh, Yang began, "You're right, Blake." Her voice was mildly defeated, but she still continued, "It's just that Ruby's like a younger sister, you know? She knows what she's doing and she's becoming a far better person than she was last year, I just can't help it, you know?" Blake sat by, staring up at her friend who sounded as sincere as possible as she glanced back towards the short duo across the room. "I just want to make sure that she's making the right choices. You're right, she is a big girl, but she's still a kid."

"we're all still kids, Yang."

"I get it. We all have a long way to go," Yang turned back towards her friend who sat on the ground, intently listening, "but I think that she might be able to help me get there as I help her."

Blake raised an eyebrow with interest, "Get you where?"

"You know," The blonde shrugged with a smile, "Adulthood."

* * *

"Why does she keep looking over here?" The alabaster teen said with an annoyed tone, balling her hands into fists as she locked eyes with a familiar busty blonde, who quickly turned away. Ruby noticed this and chuckled lightly as she set up the experiments. "What's so funny?"

"Both you and Yang." Ruby replied with a small grin, "She's being defensive and you're getting offended. I love the irony."

"And just what's the irony?" Weiss inquired with a harsh tone, causing Ruby to shake her head.

"Never mind. What do you want to do, record the time or actually do the experiment?"

"Oh, no, _I'll_ do the experiment."

"Watch that tone, _you_ …"

Weiss raised an eyebrow slyly, giving Ruby a sense of Déjà Vu. That was Yang's signature look, what was she doing with it? Still, there wasn't time to waste on that. The heiress picked up the yard stick and sat in her chair, glancing at the sheet once or twice to get an idea of the angles she would need. "Okay, so… We have five angles, right?" Ruby nodded, "But they can be whatever we want except for straight up of level with the ground, which makes sense."

"And I have to keep time on all of these materials-"

"Which would be the center of our hypothesis."

"Right, five objects, five angles and we don't even have graph paper."

Weiss raised an eyebrow curiously, sitting up in her seat, though she slightly leaned inward. "Does that really matter?"

Ruby shrugged, "Only if you want it to look nice." She continued to read the paper, flipping over to the backside to get an understanding of what she'll have to do. "Okay, here's a deal for you: I'll record the data, you answer the five questions on the back. Deal?"

"Deal." Weiss set up the experiment, the stick being up off the ground by a few inches while one side was down, creating a slight angle. "What do you think this is at?"

Ruby glanced down and picked up her pencil with her left hand. Weiss noticed this, but returned to the ruler quickly, "Twenty-degrees, easy."

"You're good at math, aren't you?"

"One of my specialties." The response was so easy that it caused the heiress to blink in surprise before setting the small coin down on the flat surface, but kept her finger on it.

"Is another specialty being a left-handed heathen?" Ruby went wide eyed in surprise and fear, worried that Weiss was about to let out a holy, verbal beatdown of epic proportions.

"Well, uh… Yeah, pretty much."

Weiss smirked, raising her left hand and wiggling her fingers around. "Join the club." Her partner's face lit up with relief, causing the heiress to worry. Did she accidentally scare the red-streaked teen? Has Ruby heard the heathen line before? Questions for later. "Ready?"

"Wait for it…" Ruby said with an elongated breath, waiting for the minute to reset. Weiss noticed this and set the ruler down, the sudden noise causing her partner to lose her concentration. "Something wrong?"

"Why do we need the clock? You should have a stopwatch on your scroll, right?"

The younger student blinked and blushed lightly before pulling out her flip phone from her pocket. "Y-yeah, uh, about that…" Weiss snatched the older device from her partner and examined it to great detail, deepening Ruby's blush. "I don't have a stopwatch on that, I don't think."

With a huff, Weiss tossed the device back to its owner and dug out her own scroll, pulling up a familiar screen, tapping a four-digit code and quickly opening an app with a clock on it. "Use this." She said, handing her scroll over. Ruby hesitantly accepted, admiring the outer skin the heiress had for the device, which had the Schnee family crest on the back. "If we want accurate measurements and estimations, we should use something that'll give precision accuracy." Weiss' tone was more sincere that it was bratty, which surprised Ruby. This one seemed to be helpful, even more productive than the others in her group.

"Wow, thanks, Weiss…" The brunette thanked, though the heiress barely acknowledged. "You're really nicer than your friends, you know?"

Icy blue eyes quickly turned to face the younger girl across the table, who sat back in stunned surprise. Surely Weiss didn't take offense at the compliment? Did she…?

"No, I'm not." Weiss replied with a harsh huff, "You've got it all wrong."

"How? If I was with Cinder or even Emerald and I showed them my phone then they'd probably make fun of me. You kept it to yourself-"

"How do you know that I even thought of anything bad, huh?"

"Well…" Ruby shrunk in her seat a little bit, the harsh gaze of the heiress finally getting to her, "It's all in the look people give, you know? It's all about reading someone's expression. I read yours and your face told me that you were thinking something- probably negative- but didn't say it. That's huge, Weiss, your friends wouldn't show that kind of… What's the word?"

"Restraint?"

"Yeah! See, you're much nicer and more helpful than they are!"

Blue eyes rolled as their owner couldn't help but smirk, but turned away to avoid eye contact and the appearance that she was thankful for the kind words. She shook her head visibly and sat back down in her seat, "Whatever." She said with a huff, though deep in her mind the heiress didn't mean it. "I think you're wrong, but whatever floats your boat."

"But I don't have a boat…" Ruby meekly said, her voice low enough so that her partner couldn't hear it.

"Let's get to work on this, huh?"

* * *

"I swear… that was… the easiest experiment I've ever… gotten to do." Yang said through the bites of her lunch. Beside her to her right and left was Pyrrha and Nora (respectively), the young chef able to get lunch off from the school restaurant. She burped lightly, covering her mouth as Ruby and Blake sat across, both mildly disgusted with the sheer display from the blonde. "Sorry."

"Chew your food, Yang." Pyrrha chided simply, not bothering to look at her friend, "Damn."

"Don't tell me what to do. You're not my mom."

"You're right." The red-haired athlete began with a small smirk, "Because I exist." The group went silent, all wide-eyed except for Blake, who was still confused by the mom thing. Pyrrha quickly realized what she had just done and turned back to face angry lilac eyes, "O-oh, oh god Yang I'm-!"

Her sentence was cut off as Ruby began to giggle. After a second or two, Nora began to chuckle too, then Blake- who gave a more awkward chuckle- then Yang and finally a horrified and nervous Pyrrha. The blonde slugged her friend in the arm before finally speaking, "You utter jerk!" The groups laughter went on for a few more seconds before finally petering out, everyone gaining their composure until Yang glanced at the shorter teen across from her.

"So how was working with the heir-bitch?"

Silver eyes rolled annoyedly at the unneeded insult towards her once-partner. "That's not fair, Yang." Ruby chided, taking a bite of her meal, "She was a lot nicer than you let me believe."

Pyrrha and Yang locked eyes, both with a quizzical look. Blake watched carefully as the blonde turned back, "How do you mean?"

"You made it sound like she was this vile, evil, heartless monster when in actuality she was very nice. She didn't argue too much and didn't insult us at all. In fact, the only time she said anything mean was when she saw you staring at us." Yang blushed, shrinking in her bench as her friend continued to chide her. "You know, Yang, I _can_ have friends outside of you guys, right?"

"Well, yeah, but…"

"Ah-up-up-up! No." Blake smirked as she watched Ruby mimic Yang's earlier action. "I do believe that your ultimate goal is to prepare me for the real world, or something of the sorts. Aren't I _supposed_ to be reaching out? Especially towards people who clearly want to be my _friend_?"

"Ruby." Pyrrha admonished, "Yang just wants you to be careful around people who she, and all of us-"

"-Except me."

"-Except for Blake, have had nothing but trouble with. It's okay, we just want to make sure that you're careful."

"I think Ruby has a point." Nora added, finishing her meal with a light burp, "We've been preparing her for this, training her to be a social butterfly-"

"Don't call me that, Nora."

"- We shouldn't stop her when she wants to start making new friends."

"Woah, woah, woah, hang on, I didn't say I wanted to make a new friend or anything." Ruby defended, "I just said why should I be mean to someone who hasn't been mean to me?"

"You're guilty by association to them, Ru," Yang warned, "Just be careful."

"And if you think about it, Yang, they're all guilty by just word of mouth to _me_."

* * *

"So, Weiss." Cinder began, her group staying mostly silent as they politely ate amongst themselves, "Still think you can help the brat?"

"With your current attitude, no way." The heiress easily fired back, "Thing is, she's a lot smarter than we thought. She is _not_ to be underestimated."

"Are you sure it's not dumb luck?" Mercury inquired with a quizzical glance, causing Weiss to nod.

"She's a very bright minded person with a lot of promise for her future. And she's the perfect candidate, should everything go right." Icy-blue eyes glared harshly at the black-haired woman across the table from her, whose amber eyes stared back stoically, "But I need you to keep your distance, alright? She has a stigmatized view of you all, but not me. So, give me a chance on my own, and I'll have this little bet of ours won, got it?"

Cinder smirked devilishly with a nod, "You've got all the time you need, Weiss."

* * *

 **Dun-dun-duuuuuuuuuuuuun!**

 **Well that's new, huh? Very soon we might be seeing a bit more of Weiss. And just why is Yang so reluctant to tell the story about why she hates Weiss' group? Why is Yang still hovering over Ruby's shoulder, despite her saying how Ruby needs to essentially be more independent? Also, why is Ruby so insecure about the situation at home, and just what is Blake poking around for with her neighbor? What made Pyrrha have such a change of heart for Ruby and why the hell is Nora still on about the debacle with her mother? All valid questions, all to be answered... Sorry, most will be answered in the future. For now, it's just speculation at this point.**

 **These next few chapters are going to be the defining point for this opening arc, too. It's going to be a huge info drop and we'll really get to know the characters by the time the next one begins.**

 **Past that, though, how did you like it? Kind of a dry read, I feel like I'm repeating quite a bit here and there, but at least I'm expanding the character field a little bit, right? I wanna hear it from you, though, so go ahead and give me a review about how the story has been so far for you- whether or not you're hooked- and give me some of your theories for later on! Hit me with your best shot, I wanna hear 'em all!**

 **That being said, it's time I return to a 48 hour candle-burning, rage-inducing, sleep-depriving marathon of book-work after book-work. Listen up, kids, when your college professor tells you "You can turn in these worksheets anytime", you tell him to shove it and DO THE DAMN WORKSHEET THE MOMENT YOU GET IT. Take it from me... It's not fun to do this all at once. Procrastination is no fun, ever.**

 **This PSA brought to you by: A busy college student angry with his own laziness.**

 **Until Next Time!**


	12. Yep, Normal

**And here we have a demon who's very, very, very late with his update… Sorry, things can get kinda hectic at Christmas, even in the food industry. After school ended I got sent through a never-ending cycle of shift changes that never worked in my favor, so writing this out just didn't happen until a few days ago. But, determined as I was, I promised myself (read: Ordered) to get this done by Christmas as a gift from me to all of you, so here it is!**

 **Note: If you do not celebrate Christmas, then I hope you can still accept this as a gift, because it's honestly the best that I can do.**

 **I won't reveal too much else. I'm going to have a lot of free time (I hope) over the next few days, weaving through Christmas Parties and work, but there should be some down time. My hope is to update this one more time before New Year's, and at least twice more before the new semester begins.**

 **Well, that's it for me. I'll see you all at the end. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Whew!" Yang whistled, stretching her arms and arching her back to stretch her muscles as she and Pyrrha walked out of the school, a wave of classmates pouring out with them. The sun beat down upon the earth, breaking through thin cloud cover to give this mid-October day a nice sixty-degree feel to it. "Feel that sun, Pyrrha! What a day!"

The athlete rolled her eyes as the duo stopped a few feet in front of the doors, still standing upon the sidewalk and away from the parking lot. "Feels nice, even with a cool breeze." The two took a deep breath and languished in the air surrounding them, enjoying their freedom just a little bit longer. "So, what're your plans tonight?"

"Who, little ol' me?" The blonde smirked, her limbs finally returning to her sides as the sun became blocked by a small cloud, "Probably- in this order- skim over the homework, toss it to the side, go into the family room and smack talk my old man into a game or two. Thrash him around- "

"-You mean get thrashed, right? Last time I checked, you're father was quite the gamer."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Pyr."

"You're very welcome." She replied with a smile as Yang finally walked into the lot, making a B-line right for her car. Right behind the gold-painted Grand Prix sat a black, beat-up Stratus with a slight dent on the hood and the roof. "Huh, isn't that Blake's car?"

"Yeah, I think so." Yang confirmed with a nod, "I never saw it in the right light… Man, this thing's been around the block a few times, huh?"

"Clearly. Guess she hasn't left yet."

"Why would she have? She's gotta wait on Ruby, who's probably talking to Velvet and Coco. You know how long that conversation would take." Pyrrha thought about it for a second before nodding in agreement. "I mean, Ruby would probably high-tail it from this place as soon as she could, but those two are gonna hold her for a while."

"And _we_ think _we're_ her babysitters."

"Right? I mean, we do a good job, but those two are like the secret service." The two shared a giggle at their friend's expense, but ultimately ended up leaning against the gold car and returning to their previous discussion. "So what do you have planned, Pyr?"

"Well," The red-haired girl thought out loud, "Jaune and I are hitting the gym at about seven, until then we're just going to be doing homework… Like _good_ students." Yang waved the notion off and shook her head, "But that's what happens when we both have off. Just like you're procrastinating because your dad is home."

"Yeah, but you're _not_ procrastinating…"

Pyrrha, her eyes wide, thought for a moment before bouncing her head between her shrugging shoulders. "Well… Good point."

"You know it." Glancing back behind her friend, she saw a man with a green Jeep standing, staring, his arms crossed in front of his chest with a lone pair of sunglasses gleaming in the light. "I, uh, think you're keeping someone waiting."

Pyrrha turned around and waved to Jaune, who solemnly waved back, before turning towards her blonde friend and smirking. "Eh, he can wait for a few more minutes."

Yang glanced around, surveying the area and the people around her and ensuring that nobody else would be listening in. Once she was sure that she couldn't see a certain red-cloaked and black-themed duo, she turned back to Pyrrha, who raised an eyebrow quizzically. "While we've got a second, can I ask you something?"

Emerald eyes going wide, Pyrrha quickly nodded and with an honest, caring tone, said, "Of course, Yang. What's up?"

"Well… It's about Ruby and Blake… Mainly Ruby."

"Oh, of course." Now her friend's tone was a bit sarcastic, causing Yang to shoot a deadpanned look. "What's wrong with Ruby now?"

"I mean, aside for the usual home problems that never seem to get better," Yang began, "Have you noticed how well Ruby and Blake have been getting along?"

"How do you mean?"

"Well…" Yang awkwardly rubbed the back of her head before continuing. "It's like… Okay, remember last year when we first met Ruby? How quiet and reserved she was. _Really_ shy, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Okay, and she's been like that ever since but the moment Blake moved in, she's been a totally different person, you know? She's acting like… Well, she's a totally different person now!"

"I've noticed that, too." Pyrrha admonished with a nod, "She's been kinda sassy since Blake joined the group… Actually, come to think of it, she's been acting like she would be if Coco or Velvet was around."

"Yeah! That's exactly it!" The blonde exclaimed, "She's acting as if she's known Blake for a really long time, and whenever our new arrival isn't there, she's back to her reserved self again. Just like with Velvet."

"Hm, you know, I think I understand your problem, Yang." Pyrrha said, deep in thought. Or at least, she appeared to be.

"Oh? What's that?"

"I think you're just jealous!"

"What!?"

"Think about it: You've been working on Ruby for just over a year now and have made no progress. All of a sudden Ruby makes a friend with her neighbor, said neighbor manages to do more in a few days than you could in a year and now you think it's suspicious. You, ma'am, are jealous!"

"No! No, that's not true at all!" Yang defended, taking offense at the accusation, "I'm just confused, is all."

"Wondering what Blake has that you don't?"

"I'm being serious, Pyr! They've known each other for less than a week… Or so we think."

A sense of realization hit the redhead, who slowly nodded. "I see. You think that they were friends when they were kids?" Yang nodded assuredly, "Kinda like how Velvet and Ruby were?" Another nod, "Well, it's possible. It would explain a lot, but it leaves the question of why Ruby didn't introduce her to us as an old friend?"

"That's the thing that's got me a bit worried, and the only thing that puts a hole in the theory."

Deep in Pyrrha's mind, she wondered why Yang was so worried for her friend that she would be thinking theories like this. Was Ruby's well-being that much of a concern? Had she not seen it like Yang has, or was the nurse-in-training going far beyond her bounds as a friend? "Well, Yang," The gymnast began, "If you ask me, I think you've lost your marbles. But, I'm not your keeper, so… Just be careful. You may be imposing on something that doesn't need to involve you."

"I'm just making sure my little sister is safe."

"Uh-huh, sure. And that might be part of the problem."

"Wait, wha-?"

"See ya, Yang." Pyrrha easily bounced off the car and walked back towards her boyfriend, waving goodbye to her busty friend behind her. Yang was left confused, waving back and considering just what Pyrrha meant by that. She opened her driver's side door, threw her backpack on the passenger's seat and took her rightful place as the driver, all the while considering just what her friend meant by her words.

* * *

Leaning against the door to her apartment, Ruby waved goodbye to her neighbor and entered her abode. She shot Blake a small smile before closing the door behind her, resigning herself to a nice powernap before going to work. Though, as she dropped her backpack on her counter in the kitchen, she noticed a presence of a foreign plate with two envelopes. One was only big enough for a small letter and it had her name on it with a small heart, all in pink, while under the plate of frosted, fall-themed cookies was a large manila envelope.

Look around the room, Ruby cautiously approached the plate, trying to ensure that she was indeed alone here. These cookies were from the bakery behind the apartment in the strip mall, a favorite location of Ruby's on the weekends or during a break from school, just because of the treats. She picked up the envelope and removed a paper from within while taking a leaf-shaped cookie from the plate. The letter contained Neo's handwriting, and knowing the woman, this was a bribe.

 _'Dear Ruby,'_ The letter wrote _, 'Sorry I couldn't be here when you got home, but I had to see a city official to see if we could get something done about the water situation we've been facing. Long story short, it's not just our building facing this dilemma, it's the whole block. You'll notice a note taped to all of the doors- if not then those residents got home. We are under a boil-water advisory until the city can get an understanding of the situation._

 _That being said, boil your water before doing anything. Even water you'd use to wash your hands can't be trusted. The Stop 'n Shop behind us is giving out bottled water at a discounted price if that will make it easier for you.'_

A rapid knocking on her door brought Ruby back into the real world, but there was so much more letter to go! "One minute!" She called and speed read the page before her, taking another bite of the cookie. Strawberry frosting… This _was_ a bribe.

The last paragraph read as followed: _'I'm sorry to thrust this on you, but within the manila envelope lies the complex's banking statements for the month. I know that normally I'd do them with you, but I have my hands tied right now and they're due on Saturday and I know you won't have much time then-'_ Crap! Ruby's eyes snapped forward as she realized that she never told Neo or Junior of her plans for this Saturday with Yang and her friends. _'This is the only thing I want you to do today. The cookies on your counter is a bribe but there will be more coming where this came from. Again, really sorry.'_ Neo ended the letter with her name besides a little heart, causing Ruby to roll her silver eyes. How corny.

Another knock from her front door alerted her to a guest that has been more than patient. "Coming! Sorry!" It couldn't be Velvet or Coco… They had keys and would probably just let themselves in. Could this be Blake? She walked out to her door, eager to find out and wasn't too surprised to see it was a familiar black-haired girl, still in her school uniform, with a letter in hand. "Hey, Blake, what's up?"

"Just trying to be clear…" The bow-wearing young woman began, opening the paper to full extension. "What's going on with this?"

"O-oh! Yeah, the, uh… Boil water thing, well…" Ruby rubbed the back of her head awkwardly, shrinking at the surprising amount of pressure thrust upon her, but felt a calm hand on her shoulder. Looking up, she saw Blake reaching out with a calm expression, staring down at her.

"Calm down, there's no big deal." She confirmed, "I just want to know what I'm dealing with."

Ruby nodded and began, "It's just a precaution by the city. I think it has something to do with the water main, or whatever, but it is directly related to what I was talking about earlier today."

"Ah, I see."

"Yeah, uh, there's a store behind the apartment that has bottled water at a discounted price, you can get a bunch just in case. If not, then well…"

"Boil the water?"

"Yeah." The younger teen giggled for a moment as Blake took the time to examine the abode before her, only to quickly return her attention back to Ruby, who slightly closed the door behind her, trying to hide her home. "So, uh, what're your plans for tonight?"

Blake shrugged, "Do the homework we got today, I don't know. How about you?"

"Well," Ruby began, "I think I'm gonna take a quick nap before going to work, and I don't know if I'll care enough to do any homework after that's done." With a small smile, Blake nodded and accepted the answer, understanding the sentiment.

"If you ever need help with it- or answers- give me a call." Amber eyes winked, their owner passing along a small smirk, "I'll be glad to lend any assistance."

Ruby blushed lightly and looked away before smiling herself, "T-thank you, Blake. I'll remember that."

"I'll let you get back to your things, I just wanted to make sure of this."

"Oh, no, it's fine." Ruby admonished, stepping out from her apartment for a moment, "Maybe later you and I could, I don't know, hand out, or something? Talk about what we were going to do for Saturday. I-if you still felt like going?"

With an assuring nod, Blake agreed, "Yes, I was, and I'll need to know how to get there."

"Well, I'm your girl!"

"Thanks, Ruby. I'll see you later, and remember what I said!"

"For sure." The two waved each other off, returning to their respective apartments and closing their doors almost simultaneously. Ruby, for what it was worth, smiled at the interaction gone right, having followed both Yang's and Coco's advice to a near T. Staying calm really did help, but what also helped was the sense that Ruby still knew Blake from somewhere, and that wink confirmed it. There was a girl, long ago, who had that same signature wink… But, she was so much different from Blake… Maybe they're related somehow?

 _'Maybe I should start investigating that…'_ She thought to herself, letting a small yawn escape her lips. ' _But… After work, and especially after a nap._ ' She walked inside her dark, cozy room, shed her school uniform and jumped into bed, quickly throwing the covers over herself and tried to fall asleep as quickly as possible. It took some time though, as her mind was clouded with thoughts of confusion- One of which being Blake, whom she could hear through the wall, currently. But another was Weiss and what Pyrrha warned earlier.

Just why should she be careful? What has Weiss done to warrant…

Oh yeah, that thing yesterday before school…

 _'Maybe I_ should _be more careful…'_

* * *

"You know, Weiss," The eldest sibling chided as she leaned against the threshold of the door to her sister's room. Weiss had been ignoring Winter up to now, but would soon have to address her sister. "I do believe father implemented a rule about-"

"Aha! You _are_ becoming like him, rule enforcer!" Weiss called out with a smile, "Not even the helpers here enforce the rules that _he_ put forth!"

"Yeah, well, you're pissing me off. I don't like being ignored."

The heiress smirked, "Wow, _really_?" She sarcastically snarked, "For someone who hates being ignored, you sure perform the act very well." Her words were instantly met with a backhand to her right temple, leaving the heiress not only reeling, but surprised with how quickly and silently her older sister was able to move across the large room. This was the houses 'study', more or less the library of the building and about as big as three living rooms. For the shorter Schnee's, there was a ladder that could reach the fourth and fifth level of the shelves.

Weiss winced as she rubbed the point of impact, which resonated and throbbed in pain. Winter, on the other hand, kept a sharp gaze upon her seated sister, who faced away from her. "Maybe you'll learn some manners that way. After all, it seemed to work back home." Icy-blue eyes went wide as Weiss turned so fast she almost got whiplash, glaring daggers into the taller relative, but Winter never relented, even when forced to stare back into Weiss' scarred left eye. "Oh, did I strike a nerve?"

"Struck a little more than a nerve…"

Winter bent down to Weiss' seated level and whispered, "I'm sorry, what was that? I couldn't hear from your damn mumbling." Those soft-spoken words made a chill run through Weiss' spine and made her muscles tense. While she tried to regain her composure, Winter stood up and began to lean against the table, crossing her arms in front of her chest and staring down at her sister, who honestly contemplated leaving the conversation and taking her school work to other places in the house. She didn't have to do it in the study, in fact she thought this would be the quietest place, therefore the best. She didn't count on her sister being home, still.

Then again, what else would Winter do all day? She's still waited for deployment orders from Atlas, which would probably be in after the new year, four months away.

"Don't you have somewhere else to be?" Weiss inquired incredulously. "I'm sure one of the workers are slacking, you could harass them!"

"I could, but it's easier to go after you, because I know you'll actually listen and take it to heart."

"Well, do it later, I have school work to do."

"No. I wanted to seriously talk to you about your choice in friends."

The scarred teen sighed in annoyance and dropped her pencil before sitting back in her seat, rolling her icy-blue eyes as she did. "Oh no, you don't like my friends. Big surpri-" Her tone was met with another backhand to the temple, causing her to snap back in pain. "OW!"

"Why do you only take up this tone with me or mom? You would never test father's patience with it."

"Because I know what'll happen if I 'test his patience'."

Winter observed the honest, yet quiet tone of her sister and retook her former pose, now bringing one leg over the other as Weiss began to reset herself. "You said, earlier, that you had a bet going with your friends, right?"

"Yeah, to see who could befriend one of Yang's brats."

"Uh-huh. And you just so eagerly agreed to do it, right?"

"Well, I mean… Two hundred Lien is on the line, here."

"You're pitiful."

"That's not fair, Winter!"

"Oh, I think it is, you bumbling idiot!" Winter snapped back instantly with more force than her sister, angered by the blindness and arrogance that unfortunately ran in the family. It was especially bad with their younger brother, but that was a story for another time. "Do you honestly think that they want you to be friends with that poor girl for just a bit of money? Knowing Cinder, they probably have some plan in store for her, something to embarrass the poor girl. After all, this is the same one that's been one-upping your group all week, right?"

Weiss shook her head easily and replied quickly, "No way. Ever since that spike in Gym class yesterday Cinder has been very intrigued with Ruby. Despite a lack of wealth with her-"

"-Which even you don't know if that's true or not."

"Trust me, she's poor. You can see it in the way she walks, stands, talks."

"Uh-huh, sure, Weiss."

" _Anyways_ … Cinder has been intrigued and now wants to see if she can turn Ruby into an upper-class socialite like us."

Once again, the military-woman shook her head in disbelief before finally pushing herself off the table and walking out of the room, but gave her sister a final thought before walking out. "Listen, Weiss, don't trust everything you hear." She said sharply, but not to offend the sibling. No, this was more of a lesson, "Cinder is a Fall, and that family has a knack for being rather untrustworthy. Even our father has an issue with their business practices, and you know what we've done."

"Winter!"

Despite Weiss' shocked and angered tone, Winter stayed calm and continued, "I'm telling the truth. I'd be very careful of your friends. They're not exactly the best of influences."

 _'Where have I heard that before…?'_ – "I don't tell you who you should or shouldn't hang out with, you should do the same." She straightened her back out and picked up her pencil again, returning to her schoolwork with a huff. "I'll see you at dinner."

With a small chuckle, Winter nodded, then shook her head and began to walk away, her heels clacking quietly against the ceramic tile floor. "Whatever you say." She said with a rather cryptic tone, closing the door behind her. "Little sister."

* * *

Ruby walked out of her apartment and stretched her muscles, dropping her bag to the ground as she did so. Her class uniform had a new addition to it: A pair of black leggings. Last night Neo informed the girl that it would be cloudy, windy and rather chilly, giving her all the reason to break out the additional clothing. Fifty degrees was still chilly to her, at least.

Having stretched herself out, the red-themed teen glanced over towards her right where Blake had just walked out, ensuring that she locked her own apartment up for the day. With a small smile and a wave, Ruby greeted her neighbor with a quiet voice, as not to disturb her probably still slumbering neighbors. Many of whom she envied, just because not waking up at six, or even five-thirty every day seemed like a blessing.

"Hey, Blake." She cheerily greeted. "How was your night?"

With a small, brief nod, Blake made a mild, joking complaint. "Very, very short. Happy Thursday, at least, right?"

"Yeah, one more day!" Ruby tried to cheer, but no matter what, it just wouldn't have the same pizazz as a Friday. "Oh well, at least there's Gym class, today. We could actually shower before class… Actually, now that I think about it…"

"Might be better to shower after gym."

"Right." Ruby shrugged it off, telling herself that it was her tired mind not thinking right. "Wanna get going?"

Blake sighed deeply before staggering out, "Not really." She said, "I… Wait here, I'm going to get a towel real fast for later."

"'Kay." Ruby didn't have to wait long, luckily. She leaned against the wall beside her door while her neighbor was in and out quickly, shoving her towel into her backpack and zipping it up while walking away. Ruby chuckled at the sight, having already done so to herself earlier. "Well that didn't take very long."

The bow-wearing teen nodded with a small smirk, but quickly turned into a head shake in disappointment. "You don't know what you've got 'till it's gone, you know that?" She quipped, "Been here for a week and it's all falling apart. Sorry."

"Ah," The young teen waved her off, "This place is always falling apart. Something's always broken."

Blake shrugged nonchalantly, "Still, not having a shower to start off is odd for me. I couldn't even take one last night."

"Well, if you had some bottled water…"

"Bath at lukewarm temperatures with no way of heating it up? Forget it."

"Yeah, I hear that." Ruby's face scrunched at the thought, "They said they're going to fix it all tonight, so hopefully we can not have to do this again for a while. Welcome to the neighborhood, I guess." The two shared a chuckle, but the younger teen's was more awkward than it was genuine, which Blake noticed.

"Oh well," The raven-haired teen shrugged, "Ready go now?"

Ruby nodded and gestured for her familiar friend to lead the way. "A few things to note before class starts," She started as Blake led the duo out towards the stairs, "Goodwitch will give everyone who wants to shower an extra twenty or minutes out of class, added onto the seven or eight we get to change."

"Very nice."

"Each shower is it's own stall with a curtain, so there's that, and there are hair-dryers in there that are like the hand-air-dryers but better."

"I see." Blake admonished with a nod, stopping suddenly on the landing to the second floor and abruptly turning to her neighbor with a quizzical look. "You know, I'm confused about something." Ruby raised an eyebrow with confusion and concern as Blake rubbed her chin in thought, "Everyone I've talked to has said the same thing about you: That you're a shy, underspoken kid. Yet, from my experience, you're actually quite a go-get-'em type leader. Actually, you've been a wonderful teacher so far to me… So why wouldn't you be like that towards everyone else?"

"O-oh… W-well…" Ruby had to think about that for a moment, having been put on the spot so suddenly by her friend. Just why was she like this? Blake was right, even around Yang, she was still reserved and nervous, but with Blake… "I… I don't know, to be honest. You just… Hm, that's a good question… Maybe Velvet could help?"

"I have a challenge for you." Blake began with a playful grin, "Figure out this problem in your own and… I know, I'll treat you to dinner tomorrow night. How's that?"

Free food? Hm… Challenge accepted. "Okay, you're on, Blake."

"No help from anyone else. And I'll know if you're cheating." With that, Blake turned back and began walking down stairs, leaving Ruby back, who still stood in stunned silence. Did she just accept a challenge, or was Blake trying to… No, no, she couldn't be doing _that_. Why would anyone want to…

Ruby shook the thought from her mind and quickly caught up to her neighbor, her direct form of transportation to school. She had dropped off the banking and the paperwork to Neo last night before going to bed, having it take longer than expected unfortunately. She wasn;t able to work on her homework… Okay, that was a total lie. She could have, but was too mentally drained from the banking to go on. Eight o'clock came around and she hit the wall faster than Yang at the go-kart track that one time. Deep in her mind, she made it a mental note to get the notes from Blake and take her up on her earlier offer.

* * *

Weiss hurriedly entered the academy through the main entrance, having high-tailed it from her ride, a four-door BMW with an all-leather interior. A very nice ride from her family's mansion, smooth sailing usually. She lived on the opposite end of the Residential District, the higher-end area where the predominately wealthy reside, and it was usually a twenty-minute drive to get from her home to Beacon. Usually she would be in early, but there was a traffic jam for some stupid reason and she was delayed by at least ten minutes. Seven thirty was the time, and by now her friends were probably waiting on her.

She didn't bother to wave off her driver, one of her more favorite workers who she has known since early childhood, but she didn't realize how rude she was to him today until she got inside and noticed he was long gone. Deep down the heiress hoped that he wouldn't hold this against her. Odds are the man wouldn't, but still…

Weiss hauled herself down the hall and towards the cafeteria, unsure of just why she was going to the opposite end of where her first class was. Everyone in her group had Gym first today, so why not meet closer to where the first class was? Of course, they took into account the jocks who get in early to practice, but they're easy to ignore. Normal students at Beacon kept to themselves, unless you encroached on their territory. That was why Emerald attacked Ruby on Monday; she felt as though the young classmate didn't belong on "their turf". Ruby and her friends had their area, they should keep to it. Unfortunately, it didn't exactly work out, despite Weiss' constant warnings. Why does it matter when the day is over? Yang and the others allowed her friends in her area, so why not be more lenient?

That was the heiress' biggest complaint was the rather primal, tribal nature of her friends. They could be rather childish and foolish at times and that was why Winter despised them so much. One day they came over and Mercury and Emerald were entirely disrespectful. Though, the younger Schnee didn't mind nor see the so-called disrespect, so she didn't mind. Now, though, Winter brought up a good point about Cinder: She can be manipulative.

If Winter's running theory is true about the bet, then Weiss had an obligation to ensure her fellow student's safety. Not only as a member of the student body of Beacon, but as a Schnee. Honor and integrity… Or something along those lines, it kinda gets blurred as one gets older.

Storming down the hall with her heels clacking against the tile floor and entering the cafeteria, she locked eyes with one petite, black-haired young woman who was in her final year at Beacon. Cinder lightly smirked at the arrival of the final member of her group, having been seated with her for some time now. Weiss quickly approached the group in the middle of the room and against the far left wall, where Cinder leaned back with her right leg resting over her left, hands patiently folded in her lap.

"Well, well, look who's late."

"It's seven-thirty." Weiss curtly replied, taking a seat beside Cinder and across from Emerald. "There was a traffic jam coming in."

Mercury nodded, confirming the excuse. "I think I passed that earlier. Some accident that took a few lanes. They detoured one or two streets near downtown."

"We didn't go through downtown, though…"

The grey-themed boy shrugged simply, "I don't know how traffic works. You probably got shafted by a secondary detour… Or whatever." He maintained his uncaring shrug for a moment longer until Weiss retook the conversation.

"Right… Cinder." The senior beside her perked up at the sound of her name, "I had a thought yesterday, about our bet?"

"Okay, want to add more stipulations?"

Emerald eagerly intervened, "Or do you want to back out and pay us already?"

"Down, puppy." Cinder snapped her finger, then returned her gaze to Weiss. "What do you need, Weiss?"

Time to test Winter's theory… "I have to know just what we're going to do with Ruby after I befriend her? What's the end game here?"

Cinder, Emerald and Mercury all glanced at each other and all shrugged before the one being questioned finally spoke through the noise of newly arrived students around her, who had made the space increasingly noisy. "Well, Weiss, that's up to you." Cinder excused, her eyes locked on the short heiress beside her, though Weiss saw a familiar look in her group leader's eyes. A look of a liar. "What happens after the fact is _all_ up to you. Why do you ask?"

"Well," The scarred teen started, "We started this bet as a way of seeing who can make a poorer student into a prim and proper member of society, but I'm the only one participating. Seems a little odd."

"Oh, I see." Emerald spoke up, "She doesn't like the fact that she's doing all of the work, here."

"I'm the _only one_ participating, not just doing all of the work."

"Okay, okay," Cinder admonished calmly, trying to end an argument before it began, "I understand. Weiss has a point, so let's up the ante here, shall we?" The group eagerly awaited the word on the new stages of the wager, but their leader had to think for a moment in order to make it truly fair. "How about… If you put in money, you have to participate. You can take out your wager, though, Mercury."

"I'm out."

"Fine. The bet is as follows: We each take an undesirable person under our wing and train them to be far more proper people. We'll give ourselves until the Halloween Dance and the one with the best progress wins. Is that fine with everyone?"

Mercury, who had recalled his bet, shook his head but his opinion didn't matter. It was Weiss and Emerald now. The latter eagerly nodded, though the heiress was a bit more reserved to agree. This didn't make the situation better, but it at least ensured that not one person was being targeted. "Okay." She reluctantly agreed. "I'll stay with Ruby. I want you two to have a target in mind by the end of tomorrow and on Monday you can try your best to befriend them, deal?"

"Deal." The group agreed in unison. Deep in Weiss' mind though, she regretted bringing something like this up in public. It would be better to deal with Cinder in private, even if it meant swallowing her pride and admitted things she'd rather keep secret. At least the Fall daughter was good at keeping secrets.

* * *

"Whew. Wow, that feels good." Ruby said through a long, drawn out and relaxed sigh, running the towel through her hair. She had quickly dressed herself after drying off in the stall, a five-minute extra hot shower did wonders for her aching muscles.

"Feel better?" Yang inquired as Ruby returned, peering behind herself and watching a short, red blip move by.

"Oh yeah." The young teen smirked, "Didn't feel right leaving without showering today, but now all is right in the world."

Pyrrha threw her workout shirt off and turned to face her red and yellow themed friends, who were currently face-deep into lockers. "Something like that feels especially better after a brutal workout like what we had…" She looked around and noticed a distinct lack of a new student, "Ruby, you didn't leave Blake behind, did you?"

"She was just finishing up." Ruby whined, "Probably drying her hair."

"And you didn't stay with her?"

"What am I? The new kid's keeper?"

Both Yang and Pyrrha glance at each other, smiled and nodded, speaking in unison: "Yeah." After a light giggle, Blake appeared from around the corner, tying the bow atop her head, dressed in her undergarments with her towel around her body, her workout clothes being locked up long before the others got in.

"Here I am."

"See!" Ruby clapped, buttoning up her school uniform shirt, "Told you she wasn't far behind!"

"Nah, I was drying my hair. It got a little wet." Once again, the taller duo known as Yang and Pyrrha glanced at each other before growing smiles on their faces. Blake and Ruby noticed this, but the latter shook her head, opting not to press further.

The locker room began to empty out after a few minutes, Ruby and Blake being later to the dressing were a few steps behind their friends, who kept up conversation amongst themselves. Pyrrha and Nora had been sitting for two or three minutes while Yang had just finally gotten her shoes tied. Ruby, on the other hand along with Blake had just started to get dressed, which caused an impatient chef-in-training to cry out in annoyance. "I'm bored!"

"Big deal!" Yang countered, glancing at her phone, "You've got five minutes before the bell rings, get used to it!" As Nora began to playfully whine and cry, lilac eyes noticed a small figure with a pure white ponytail across the room. A familiar person with a different look than before. She looked concerned, almost sad. Yang and the figure across the room nodded, knowing that she had something to say and it couldn't wait. Now would probably be a better time to talk, too. "Listen, if you're so bored then leave. Nobody's keeping you in here. We'll catch up after the slowpokes get dressed."

"I resent that comment, Yang." Blake complained, though the nurse waved her off. Nora and Pyrrha locked eyes and nodded to each other, agreeing with the notion. The left, laughing with each other and leaving the trio behind. As they left, Weiss approached from the far back, locking eyes with a certain silver-eyed teen. "Woah, uh-oh."

"Okay, wait." Weiss held up her hands defensively, stopping in her tracks before slowly approaching Ruby and Yang again. "I know what you're thinking and this isn't what it looks like, honest."

"What is it, Weiss?" Yang asked with concern, but also a hint of testiness.

"It's you." The scarred girl pointed towards the youngest present, causing Ruby to stiffen physically and stop in her tracks. "Also, don't stop changing on my accounts. We don't want you to be late for class after all."

"U-uh… Okay, thanks… What's wrong, Weiss?"

With three pairs of eyes locked onto her, the heiress refused to break under pressure and continued with a cryptic warning. "Listen, you didn't hear this from me. My… Ahem, 'friends' are planning something for the dance and it has to do with a bet we made."

"What kind of bet?" Blake inquired, now throwing her uniform coat on over her shirt.

"It's a little confusing. We're taking people whom we deem undesirable by wealth standards and making them into proper members of high society." The trio each had a look of confusion, though Ruby's was more of a worried, scared look. "They want me to turn the key on Ruby."

Yang nearly jumped out of her skin in rage, all present could swear her eyes turned red. "What?!"

"I'm undesirable…?"

"Listen, normally I wouldn't think anything of it, but I'm actively concerned. Cinder is a tricky person to deal with and she wouldn't stoop herself lower than her own level for any reason unless she had a mischievous plan in mind."

"And why are you telling us this?" The bow-wearing teen inquired honestly, stopping Yang from blowing up again.

Weiss glanced back and nodded towards the new girl, smirking as she did so. "That's a good question. Here's the thing: Ruby, you showed me a kindness that I didn't expect and that I don't think I deserved." The young teen picked her head up at the honest words being thrown her way, Yang visibly calming down beside her. "I'm warning you that you shouldn't trust anyone. Not even me for any reason. I know you already don't trust my friends but now… I've seen things a little clearer than I would and I want to return that kindness that you showed me. This is out of mutual respect."

"So, should we trust you on _this_?"

"Up to you, Yang." Weiss shrugged, "I'm just trying to keep you warned and informed." Icy-blue eyes locked with stone-silver orbs, but the latter held a saddened look in them. "We'll be in touch." As quickly as she arrived, Weiss Schnee turned and walked out, following a small line of students leaving the room. Yang and Blake both locked eyes, then the former glanced to the young teen beside her, who simply plopped down on the bench in front of her locker, completely dressed but missing her shoes still.

"Ru? You alright?"

"I'm… Undesirable?"

Her tone was so… Sad, so downtrodden… So pitiful. Both Blake and Yang were surprised by it, given how positive of a person she had been all week. Blake was the one who stepped up, having changed out completely during Weiss' warning. "No, you're not undesirable, you're just… What's the word?"

" _Financially_ undesirable." Yang bluntly said, balling her hands into fists. "You don't have as much money to your name as they do, which makes you financially undesirable to them. But in every other way you have way more skills to offer all of them combined. Besides, it's them, the Elites. We don't care for what they think, right?" Her question was quickly followed by a nudging of her younger friend's shoulder. Ruby nodded slightly, though her facial expression didn't show that she comprehended, much less cared. Yang swiftly pulled out her scroll and checked the clock, finding just two minutes before the bell would ring. "Come on," she said, patting Ruby's back, "Get your shoes on, the bell's about to ring."

Lilac eyes and amber orbs locked, both with a concerned look as Blake began to understand just what everyone meant earlier. It was things like this that probably made Ruby the quiet girl that she was told about, and something as soul-crushing and self-esteem stomping moment like that would really put a damper on someone's mood. She watched as Ruby put her shoes on slowly, and when the bell rang the young girl locked her locker and slammed it shut before leading the pack out, going right passed the others outside the room and right to free block.

* * *

 **Uh-oh. Back to the old grind! All of that hard work gone to hell in one quick sentence.**

 **Weiss isn't so bad, though, huh? Took getting her temple smashed in by Winter a few times, but she got the clue fast enough. And what's with this updated bet? Clearly there's a bigger, more sinister plot behind this, at least according to Winter. Is she being paranoid or are her suspicions correct, and just how will Weiss handle it?**

 **Next is Yang and Blake: Does the blonde trust the new faunus, or is she still unsure? Will Blake woman up and tell her friend's her secret identity? Will Yang find out about Blake's proposition, and just what is Blake after… Okay, that last one you could probably guess what she wants out of Ruby, given what we've seen so far, but still, questions for later. How will Yang react and will Ruby be as dense as she stereotypically is written? Is there any reason for Ruby to be dense, or is it Blake being cute?**

 **Now we move to our dear sweet Rose child. So quickly can self-esteem be stomped out of a teenager, but at least she has her support system with her! Next chapter we're going to see a lot of real talk between Ruby and Yang, but we'll also see the triumphant return of Velvet and Coco! I realized those two have only been mentioned, not seen. I've gotta get them off the bench and into the game, otherwise they'll get soft.**

 **So, how was it? Shaking up what we know about characters thus far is fun, and there's a lot more of that to come. The plot is really going to take shape, too ('bout damn time, right?). So, look forward to that!**

 **The chapter after the next is going to be very important, as we'll finally spend a long night at Yang's and see just what the group does during these hangouts. No, it's nothing sexual, so you don't have to worry about that… Come to think of it, if I disappointed you with that, sorry, but Ruby is still fifteen here, so I gotta keep it clean for now.**

 **Remember my policy, people, if you have any burning questions you need answered, send me a PM or ask it in a review. If it's something that will be explained later, then I'll either tell you directly or I won't respond at all (how rude). I hope you all have a great holiday, no matter who you are, where you are or what you're celebrating, enjoy with the people around you! Hopefully we'll get an update before New Year's!**

 **Until Next Time.**


	13. Revelations and their Effects

**Wow, am I late or what? I can make as many excuses in the world, but the bottom line is work led to a writer's block of untold proportions and I barely got this done. I'm getting this up to you as I wait for class to begin. Thank god for laptops.**

 **That being said, I'm sorry this is so late and I hope to get the next one in by weeks end. I've got some work and/or volunteer stuff to work out but free time _shouldn't_ be too much of an issue. This arc is winding down and only has, at the most, four chapters left. Once it ends I'll be going into a short hiatus-mode to work out schedules and get a system going for myself, but I'll be back after two or three weeks. Again, sorry, but I've got poor timing. **

**So, without further delay here's chapter 12. Lord knows you've waited long enough.**

 **Enjoy.**

* * *

Yang sighed heavily as she read the sheet in front of her. She and Ruby had a Personal Finance class as their third class on Red Day's, while Pyrrha and Nora had Careers, which was like Personal Finance except it focused more on a student's interests in careers and how it will affect the potential daily life. Right now, Blake was in her Creative writing for the first time, and the boisterous blonde could only feel sorry. She could barely sit still for more than five minutes these days, that class would probably drive her insane.

As for herself and her young, silver-eyed friend, they had just suffered from an hour of lecture about how insurance will play into one's daily life. There was a lot of confusing math involved, which is why Yang was glad that she had Ruby beside her. The red-themed teen was really good at math which made this class go by really fast. She was a good tutor, too, pretty much holding Yang's hand all throughout the semester thus far. But today seemed… Off. Of course, Yang knew why, it's been the same silent attitude since Weiss dropped her little "Undesirable" bomb.

Ruby has been visibly upset since Gym class, very quiet during free block and hadn't even taken a single note since class had begun. Blake tried to get her going last block, telling Ruby that she still had some work she needed to do, but all of her drive and energy just seemed to die away. Yang watched the new girl's attempt to rouse Ruby into action, which almost worked. Almost. Now, they're here, and Yang is right back with the same struggle she's faced since she first met Ruby.

"Man," The blonde said, rubbing her forehead as the rest of the class around them began to work on the sheet that somehow had relevance to the lecture (not that Yang would know), "Got any idea of what we gotta do, Ru?" The silver-eyed teen seemed to disregard the inquiry, staring into space- or at least the desk in front of her- causing Yang to sigh, roll her eyes and nudge her sharply, in that order, physically breaking her from her stupor. "That tabletop is lookin' _real_ nice, isn't it?"

"H-huh? Wha-?"

"Oh, nothing," Yang sarcastically remarked, "You've just been staring at desks for the last two hours or so, I'm starting to think that the table is more entertaining than I am. And that hurts, Ruby."

As Yang playfully dragged her index finger down her cheek from her eye to symbolize a tear, Ruby smirked slightly and chuckled before leaning into the desk. For some time now, she had been leaning back, slouching in her seat but now had readjusted, her hands at the end of the table closest to her as she looked at the papers strewn about. "O-oh… Oh! Yang, I'm-!"

"It's okay." The blonde admonished, "You've got something on your mind and that's keeping you distracted, I understand." The mention of her absentmindedness caused silver eyes to go wide for a moment before she once again looked dejectedly towards the table. This time Yang capitalized. "Anything you wanna talk about?"

"No, no… Yeah."

"Atta' girl." Yang instantly leaned back in her seat and folded her arms beneath her chest, awaiting her friend's response. "I'm here for you."

Ruby slowly gathered her thoughts, her head bouncing around between shrugging shoulders. Yang watched with interest, eager and fearful to hear her friends concern. "I guess I'm just having an issue with what Weiss said earlier."

Her meek tone was met by a raise of a brow and an inquiry. Yang knew what she was talking about, but didn't understand the problem. "How so? What do you mean?"

"It's just… Is it _that_ obvious?"

"Hm?"

"I get it, I'm… Not the wealthiest person in the school, but… Is it seriously _that_ obvious?"

Lilac eyes went wide with surprise as the blonde cursed the question. Of course, she would drop this question on her, she was the only one Ruby trusted outside of Velvet or Coco. And she would have to answer this honestly, but in the best way possible. Ruby's pride had already taken a big enough hit today. "Well, I mean…" Yang shrugged, bouncing her head around and mimicking the action from her younger friend as she tried to find the right phrasing, "Well, from where I sit and where our friends sit, we can tell, you know? We're not that dumb and we can see _some_ of what's going on, only because… well, we know you. But from an outsider's perspective; for someone who may not know you, it's not really that apparent."

"Then why did Weiss-?

"Weiss Schnee isn't exactly _known_ for her kind disposition, Ruby. She's about as harsh as one could be as a person. But her heart was in the right place for this, she just didn't word it properly. Or, she worded it like Cinder did."

"Oh… Hm…"

"I don't think Weiss' intentions were all bad. Her wording was, no doubt, but she probably doesn't think your poor, in fact she probably hasn't thought about that too much."

"But-"

"Ah-bup-up! No buts, just listen." Ruby blushed from the chiding blonde and turned away quickly as Yang continued, "nobody important thinks your undesirable, financially or otherwise." Red-tinted banged hung in front of silver eyes as their owner nodded slowly, graciously accepting the honest tone from her friend. Yang was known for being brutally honest but was skilled enough to give it a caring spin, making it sound as if she wasn't as mean as intended. Though by now Ruby knew better, but she still caught nothing but care. "Besides, none of that matters. It's just the Elite's going on their semi-annual tirade. They were probably targeting you as retribution for the Emerald debacle earlier this week."

"Don't forget what I did to Cinder on Tuesday."

"True. Be happy that Weiss decided to be the bigger person and tell you what was up, otherwise… I hate to think what they might do."

"Do you really think I'm _that_ helpless, Yang? I can handle myself, you know."

Lilac eyes easily turned back, their owner's expression stoic with no emotion at all. "Listen, I trust you with a lot, considering how far you've come since last year. But Cinder… She's a-whole-nother level of cruel. I just don't want to see you get hurt is all." Ruby raised an eyebrow, causing Yang to give in, "But, I hear you. So, what I'll do is I'll back off and let you and Weiss figure this out. But if anything gets too out of control then I'm stepping in and putting a stop to things before somebody gets hurt. Deal?"

"Only if you promise to give Weiss a chance?"

"Deal retracted."

"Oh, come on, Yang!" Ruby cried in a silent tone, as not to alert the teacher, "That isn't fair to her!"

"And what she did wasn't fair to me!"

"And just what did she do?"

"Ah, when you're older, little rose." Yang sung, patting her friend on the head, "That's a story for later."

Ruby shook her head and scoffed annoyedly, "I've heard _that_ one before…" Yang watched the sudden attitude out of her friend and smiled, happy to see her friend once again showing signs of life. Velvet was right: When Ruby's down, all she needs is an open ear, someone to talk to and she'll be fine. She can be an open book if you just let her do her own thing.

After thinking about the option's she threw out earlier, she decided one thing needed to happen: She had to give Ruby a chance. This was her opportunity to come out of her shell on her own. She needed to grow, and Yang couldn't hold her hand anymore. She held out a lone, right hand in front of Ruby's face, which the younger teen returned the gesture by accepting the handshake. "Good to have you back, Ru." Yang said, "I'll let you have a chance with Weiss. But no funny business, alright?"

"What's your definition of funny business? Yang?" The blonde smirked before retracting her hand and returning to her school work, sliding her chair closer to the desk. Her smile deepened as Ruby tried to get her to respond, to obviously, no avail. "Yang? Seriously, what did you mean? Yang!"

* * *

"With a cool breezeway understood now- in our final hour- that man cries not for themselves, but for the fallen.", Blake sat in an observing silence as the class around her waited in batted breath. This was her newest and currently most favorite class: Creative Writing. Even though she liked reading more than she did writing, it was still worth a shot. She was placed beside the teacher's desk, a nice, older woman who had taken the time to explain how the class will work while the other students read their poems. Every student would make a poem and by the end of that week they'd have to read it. The class had received their latest assignment last week and were permitted one extra day to work if need be. Usually there would be one or two days of work to be made that required peer reviewing and editing with classmates, but if you had it ready today you were more than welcome to read it. As it stood right now, the class was being indulged by a students "Fallen One" type poem. Dark, yet somewhat shallow. Not too much thought into it and pretty cliché actually, which was depressing for Blake. She had a certain expectation that thus far hadn't been met, though she knew that it wasn't fair to judge as it was technically her first class with the group.

Despite all of what was going on around her, including the critiquing taking place, Blake's mind seemed to wander elsewhere, specifically to her neighbor, as were the concerns of her group as a whole. Having been there for Weiss' revelation, and was also there for the aftershow during Free Block. Yang had explained, with fairness to the surprise of all present, what Weiss had said and at the same time tried to understand just why the heiress had done such a thing. To go against Cinder, let alone the group as a whole, was apparently looked down upon by the short-statured senior, which didn't bore well for anyone who went against the status quo.

And guess what Weiss Schnee just did?

While they pondered over the revelation, Pyrrha considered the possibility that the scarred heiress had a change of heart or possibly felt guilty. By the sounds of it she was put up to do a dastardly deed and just couldn't handle it. No, not that couldn't handle it, more like she wouldn't stand for it. In her four days at this academy Blake has learned a great many things, but now realizes that she still has a lot to learn, especially from and about the people around her.

Nora agreed to the point and Yang, for some reason, stayed silent on the matter. She was clearly at a loss for words, not knowing what to think and decided that keeping quiet was the better option. She and Ruby exchanged a few words, but nothing more than two word replies from the latter. Ruby clearly wasn't in a talking mood.

Which brings the raven-haired teen back to her neighbor. Ruby wasn't mad about all of this, nor was she sad by Weiss' harsh words. She seemed more... Disappointed if anything. Her demeanor had significantly dropped but she refused to say why, being visibly absent minded herself. This must have been what she was like beforehand, in the prior weeks to now. But why return to such an attitude for just one little discussion? Either way, it was worrying, and something that Blake had seen before, many years ago. She had witnessed this silent attitude out of Ruby and knew exactly what it was.

More importantly, she also knew how to help.

Back at the home, whenever Ruby had a bad night and didn't want to talk or even socialize with the other kids, Blake would watch as Velvet tried every which way to bring her back to life, so to speak. Dancing, singing, but for a seven-year-old… Or maybe she was eight, by this point? Either way, for a kid, Ruby Rose was damn stubborn. The memory of Velvet's antics brought a small smirk to Blake's face, which also allowed for a lightbulb to flash above her head. That memory allowed her to see the solution and see just how she's going to break Ruby out of a slump before she can get too far deep in the rut.

"Okay, class." The teacher called attention to herself after the poems and critique was finished. "Your next poem is going to be no more than eight stanzas, no more than six lines to a stanza, and will represent an emotion brought on by the first memory you can find in your mind. You have until Monday and then we'll start the review process. Go ahead."

This class seemed very basic… Not that it was an issue, a little piece and quiet every now and again could help everyone. Speaking of ruts… _'Feel like a hypocrite, don't you?'_ The voice of Blake's mother rang through her head. She could just picture the woman now, shaking her head with her hands on her hips, ' _Scold Ruby for jumping back into ruts when you say something like_ that _?'_

' _But… I didn't scold Ruby, yet.'_

' _You did mentally, and that's all that counts.'_

' _Dear Gods, brain… Mom, whoever is talking, just… Uhg, shut up, I have an idea.'_

What was that her father used to say? There's no issue with the voices in your head unless they reply to you? Hm…

"Do you understand what you're doing, Miss Belladonna?" The instructor, whose name currently escaped Blake for the life of her, said as she stood over the bow-wearing teen.

"Oh, yes, I understand completely, ma'am. Thank you." The older woman smiled simply as Blake pulled out her scroll, opening it to her messages tab. She quickly found Velvet's number… Or perhaps it was Coco's? Either way, one of the wonder twins' number (seriously, Yang, nice name) and began to type out a quick message.

' _Ruby's feeling a bit down and I know how to help. Think you can stop by right after school?'_ The message wrote. She didn't have to wait long, however, as the reply was nearly instant.

' _What's wrong? Something that needs to be taken care of now?'_

' _No. It can wait, but she's clearly down in the dumps.'_

' _Ic._ ' "Seriously? Text speak? What is this, middle school, Velvet?" Blake whispered to herself, shaking her head as she did until her phone quickly vibrated again, alerting her to a new message. ' _We'll be there right after school ends. Don't be late, or else Coco will get anxious.'_

No detours, no breaks. Just straight home, huh? Well, the bow-wearing teen was driving, so no matter what there's not going to be an issue about it.

* * *

Weiss sat back in her seat as the vehicle accelerated out and away from the academy. The car was a leather-interior semi-limo, where there were two rows of seats. One facing the front of the car and another facing the back. Then there was the driver's and passenger's seats. It was a smaller, somewhat luxurious vehicle that allowed business ventures to be had in an appropriate manner, as sometimes a large limo was too much. The Schnee family used this car in Vale for business, but since their father wasn't in the city, Weiss commandeered it. It allowed her and Winter to talk, but also allowed for a cozy and spacious interior for when her friends came over.

Propping her right leg over her left and resting both hands atop her right knee, Winter simply stared at Weiss, awaiting the sibling to make the first move. The driver, Klein, Weiss' personal favorite of all of the company's workers who was on the shorter side- no taller than the heiress- and a tad pudgy, but he didn't care much. He was a jolly man who always treated both the Schnee girls right, and that's all that mattered to them. He had already greeted her and inquired about her day, but Weiss was very brief with the man. Whenever this occurred, both the worker and the military specialist knew that something was up. Winter couldn't take this anymore and spoke up, her eyes locking onto Weiss' absent gaze.

"So?" The eldest began, "How did it go?"

"Hm?"

Winter chuckled lightly at Weiss' seemingly dumbfounded remark, brushing her hair away from her right eye before it fell back into place. "You _did_ remember the plan, right? You were going to confront Cinder? About that thing we've been talking ab-"

"Oh, oh! Yes, that!"

"I can see your manners haven't improved, still." Winter muttered, earning a harsh glare from the heiress across from her.

" _As I was saying_." Weiss cleared her throat, "I _did_ confront Cinder and… Well, you were right, to an extent."

"How much of an extent?"

"Cinder's bet was only if I could transform Ruby into a member of higher society. When I confronted her, I asked why I was the only one who had to do this, instead of asking why was I doing this. Importantly, I forgot to ask why they wanted Ruby, specifically." Winter's muscles stiffened slightly, her posture tightening as she listened. "Instead of getting the answer I was looking for, Cinder instead dodged the question like a professional politician-"

"- Or like your father during a business inquiry?" Both Schnee's went wide eyes and giggled before erupting into all out laughter by the sudden shot on their father. Well, any shot would be welcomed, but this was out of the blue and so sudden and unwarranted and those were the best ones. "What? It's true, isn't it?"

"Klein," Winter sighed carefully after a short burst of laughter, now having composed herself. She turned back and faced the man through the gap and raised an eyebrow, "You know saying something like that is grounds for dismissal, right?"

"I understand, Winter," He said with a grin, his mustache arching with his lips as he glanced back at both of his passengers, "But, you see, I can't find a reason to care about what I say about him when he isn't around. Also, I just couldn't help it."

His eyes had changed color, back to their original form as he turned his full attention back to the road and turned the car down an empty street. Weiss instantly recognized where they were and quickly composed herself, knowing they were close to home. "A welcomed shot fired, Klein, and don't worry. We won't tell a soul."

"He's been with our company since before I was born, Weiss. If he got dismissed, he could just retire."

"Full pension locked in, thanks to a very loving contract." Icy blue eyes rolled as their young owner smiled, leaning back comfortably in her seat, satisfied with what just occurred. "I apologize, Weiss, I didn't mean to take away from your story. Please, continue."

"Quite alright, Klein. Anyway, Cinder dodged the question and instead of explaining why we were after Ruby, she instead decided to make a larger bet."

"Oh no."

"Oh yes, unfortunately. You see, now she and Emerald are picking targets to do the same thing to, and we'll figure out who is better prepared for higher society by the Halloween dance."

"Sound the red alert, Weiss." Winter instantly snapped, "Because we have an issue there."

"I know, I know. Huge red flag. I got the same idea that you're getting now and I don't want to know what Cinder has in store for these other victims, should they find one. Knowing Emerald, she's going to nitpick and fall short, just because nobody will fit her style. But that's beside the point."

"You're right, Weiss." Winter exhaled sharply, "Knowing Cinder, she has something planned for the dance. You need to get a move on with your would-be victim."

"Already done." Weiss smugly stated, though regret washed over her very quickly as she remembered the conversation. She remembered the look of disappointment and sadness on Ruby's face after she said that one damn word and it hurt to see someone who very well could become a friend hurt like that, especially by her own doing. "S-sort of."

Both Winter and Klein raised their eyebrows as the car stopped at a light, the former speaking first, rolling her hand around in a gesture to make her point known. "Sort of? How?"

"Well… Thing is…" Weiss awkwardly rubbed her right arm, then the back of her head and tried to find the right words that won't get her totally beaten down before they could even arrive to the comfort of her own home. "I did confront Ruby about it, and I didn't do it alone, either. I had Yang and a new girl around so they could hear."

"Witnesses are always a good thing."

"Exactly what I thought."

"So what was the problem, then?"

"Well… I didn't exactly use the right wording." Winter raised her eyebrow, her forehead scrunching beneath her hair. "See, I… I inadvertently called her 'undesirable'."

For a moment, the world smelled of ozone as the car seemingly came to another abrupt stop, though Weiss knew that this was the last stop sign before her home. Though, now the prospect of home was becoming a far more foreign concept, as she could feel the cold gaze of death from her dear oldest sister across the car. "You. Did. _What_?" Winter growled in a deep voice, her hands balling into fists after Weiss' confession. She shouldn't get upset about this; she had never met Ruby and understood that misspeaking happens. But Winter also knew that this was something that she had tried to lord out of her siblings since day one.

Their father may want them to be 'proud' of their rich privilege, but there's no reason to act all high and mighty to those around you, especially those less fortunate.

With a dejected sigh, Weiss slumped forward, fighting against the seatbelt that forced her back and shook her head in her hands, "I know, I messed up so bad and I feel awful about this whole thing." Winter glanced back into the front seat and reached for something, but Weiss didn't see it, "I knew, right after I said it I knew I messed up and I still did nothing about it! I just-"

 _THWAP_

Before she could finish her sentence, a blunt object collided with her left temple. Again, with the damn temple… But whatever it was that hit her just now, it wasn't a hand. No, it was solid, but thicker. Once the pain died away, Weiss looked up to see her sister looking smug with a rolled-up newspaper that now hand a sharp crease in it. "What was that for!? I know I messed up!"

"Yeah, but I have to pound the point home every now and again." The eldest Schnee replied. "I thought I taught you better than that! I'd expect this from Whitley, but not from you, Weiss!"

"Honestly, I wasn't even thinking, Winter." The scarred heiress replied, running her hand across her head once more to survey the damage done. It wouldn't leave a mark but wow, did that hurt. "It just sort of… Came out. I didn't realize what I was saying until it was too late. I hope that they understood my intent, but at this point I can't be sure."

"Then you know what you do?"

"I think I've got an idea."

"You're going to go see her in the morning before school starts and your going to apologize for your lack of a filter."

"Winter." Klein chided from his front seat after placing the car in park at the front of the manor. He turned to face both of his passengers and held out an open hand, which the older daughter instantly knew he was silently asking for his daily paper back. She reluctantly handed back the rolled-up newsprint and prepared for a scolding that just never came. "Thank you." He glanced back towards Weiss and smiled lightly. "I can tell that you're regretting your words, dearie, but there's nothing you can do about it now. What's done is done and your sister does have a point, despite her method of getting the point home." Winter pouted slightly, causing a refreshing smile to appear on Weiss' face. "Tell you what: Tomorrow, I'll bring you in early so that you can apologize properly to the girl, okay? Does that please the court of Schnee?"

Winter instantly knew that it was her being addressed with that rhetorical comment and rolled her eyes, shaking her head as she did so as she tried to exit the vehicle before any of the workers could get to the car. Like either of the sisters would let them, anyway.

"Sounds like a plan, Klein." Weiss confirmed with a nod, "We'll leave about ten minutes early."

* * *

Blake walked down the hall and past meandering students who were fiddling with their lockers and quickly moved to her destination. Turning the corner, she was met by a group of freshman (she could tell based on how short these kids were), but paid them no mind as she cut through the group of five. Her bow twitched as she heard the murmurings of classmates around her, but the raven-haired teen quickly shook herself loose and composed herself, allowing her to make eye contact with a red-themed neighbor, who had just gotten her jacket on. "Hey, Blake." Ruby simply greeted through a dwindling crowd.

"Hey, almost ready?"

"Sure, let me just…" Ruby quickly tossed a math book onto the top shelf of her locker and slammed it shut before turning on a heel and throwing her Beacon Academy backpack around her shoulders. "Alright, I'm good."

"You sure?"

"Uh… Yeah?"

"You sure you're sure?"

"Blake, what are you talking about?" Ruby honestly inquired, gazing up into stoic amber eyes. "I've got everything I'll need for the night… I don't honestly need a math book, like, ever, if that's what you're talking about."

"No, no, it's just your choice of wording is all." Blake admonished, "Saying that you're good when just a few hours ago you weren't-"

"Uhg, not this again…" Ruby muttered to herself, shaking her head in annoyance and walking away in an attempt to end the conversation. "If this is how you're going to be all the way home, I'll just walk."

"Mm, not going to happen." Blake denied, quickly jogging down a semi-clear hall to catch up with her neighbor. Ruby was moving away from the Science Wing and towards the back parking lot where a staircase can take you right out to an exit. Blake could only assume that this was where the red-themed teen was going to, given her trajectory. "Seriously, though, the last few times I've seen you today you were quiet, absent-minded and rather downtrodden. I'm just trying to make sure you're okay and not hiding anything from me."

"And is it a big deal if I'm hiding stuff from you?"

Yes… And you can't hide crap from me, nor were you good at that back then, you brat… At least, that's what Blake wanted to say, but she kicked that thought aside and went with a nicer tone. "No, everyone's got secrets. I just want you to know that I'm here for you."

Ruby, once again, shook her head as she descended to the first floor, her ride home trailing close behind her as she threw both of her arms behind her head and sighed. "Between you, Yang, Velvet and apparently Pyrrha now, you're all sounding like broken records."

"We're worried. Is that a crime?"

Just before they exited, silver eyes quickly glanced back and locked onto amber orbs, the former's owner speaking up, "Look, Blake, I'm happy to know that you're there for me and it's nice to know that you care, but I worked it all out with Yang."

"What?"

"Yeah, I mean, I'm still kinda bummed about everything that's happened for various reasons, but ultimately I'm fine. I'm over it, really."

"… What?" Uh-oh…

"Yeah. Still, though, your concern is appreciated. Now, no offense, but… Can we go home? I kinda feel like taking a nap before I have to work. With the Water-Main fixed I have some paperwork to go through with Neo and it's gonna take a while."

Ruby was the first to leave, not waiting for her neighbor and her driver to respond and instead leaving Blake in a stunned silence. When did she get over it? Why was she so quiet and why didn't Yang say anything about it? Why couldn't she tell!?

So now, since Ruby isn't feeling as down or sad as she was, she probably doesn't need to talk to anyone, which means she won't need Velvet or Coco… Which means that they're wasting their time… And they're probably halfway to the apartment complex now… Crap.

"R-Ruby! Wait up!" Blake said, hurriedly, as she rushed out the doors to catch up to her neighbor, who was patiently waited a few feet down.

"What's up?"

"O-oh! It's, uh… Nothing. It's nothing."

"Really? Are you sure? You look flustered…"

"Yeah, I'm fine, it's just… You may have a visitor… Or two, when we get back." With a heavy, dejected sigh and a slump of her shoulders, Blake began to walk farther from the academy and towards the parking lot, leaving a confused and worried neighbor behind her. "I'll explain on our way home…"

"O-okay." She caught up to her driver and ran across the parking lot and hopped into the newly unlocked car, throwing her bag on the floor in front of her passenger seat and buckling in as Blake began to set herself up to drive. Turning the car over to check her gauges, her passenger stayed quiet in deep thought and stayed this way for a while, even while Blake started driving.

The duo drove away from the academy grounds in silence, the only noise being the radio between them on a soft-rock station. Ruby tried to think through the music, and all the while watched the world pass by from her passenger seat window. What could Blake have meant by that? Why was she so flustered? Most of all what was this about? No matter what thought came to her mind, she found herself confused more and more. When she recognized the second to last light before reaching the apartment, she figured that this was the best time to ask, especially since she was growing more and more agitated by the silence.

"Seriously!" Ruby whined, "What is wrong? You seem so tense?"

Blake smiled softly and shook her head, waving off her passenger easily, "You'll find out, don't worry."

"But I don't know what you meant by 'a visitor or two'! It was so vague! Did you invite someone to my apartment or something?"

"Well…"

"Blaaaaake."

"You'll find out in a minute. I won't spoil the surprise." Blake assured, though the feeling of dread washed over her more and more, telling herself that she was in a world of trouble. She didn't just miscalculate, she completely whiffed the entire ordeal to massive degree, and now scolded herself into guilt. Probably should've consulted Ruby before making the call like that. What's done is done and she'll just have to take her lumps as she goes. It was the thought that counts, right?"

"You did invite someone over?" The young passenger inquired once more, trying to get an understanding of the riddle as Blake powered her old car through a changing yellow light. The driver nodded simply and stayed quiet, allowing Ruby the chance to ponder aloud. "Okay, two visitors… Well, you don't have Neo's number, so she's out… Also, she's only one person. Yang wouldn't do it, she has to work tonight, and Pyrrha has practice…"

"Think higher." Blake quipped as she turned into the apartment complex's parking lot.

"Think higher? Higher than Yang?"

"Yup."

"Neo?"

"Too high."

"Higher than Yang, lower than…" As the car slowly rolled past parking spots, Ruby spotted a familiar bronze classic Lincoln sitting in a 'Visitor' space. Quickly, Blake found a spot under a low ceiling and rolled into it as silver eyes slowly turned to the body in the next seat. The driver tensed up under the gaze of the young passenger, quickly turning her head to face out the window instead of meeting the eyes of her friend and neighbor. " _You didn't_ …"

"Well…" Blake shrugged awkwardly, still unable to meet Ruby's gaze. "In my defense, Vel said she wanted to come over and check up on you anyway and this was a good excuse!"

"I don't need her to check up on me, I'm fine!"

"That's not the vibe I was getting a few hours ago!"

"What?!"

"Right after gym you just stopped. You didn't talk, you barely did your work, you were just on autopilot. Even during lunch, you stayed far away from the conversation as possible, it worried me, Ruby!"

"Okay, two things-" The teen pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance before unbuckling her seatbelt. "One, Pyrrha and Yang were talking about what Pyrrha should get Jaune for their one-year anniversary, and I stayed out of it because I had no idea what to say because I'm bad at gift-giving. Two, and let me know if I've this right-"

"Okay."

"Instead of talking to me, directly, you just assumed that I was still feeling as bad and just invited Velvet and Coco into my home."

"… Yeah, yeah that seems about right."

"Crap." Ruby grabbed her backpack, which had been on the floor in front of her seat and jumped out of the car, causing Blake to scramble to do the same. The driver quickly turned the car off, took her keys and opened her door, grabbing one string of her bag as her neighbor stomped away. "There's a reason why they don't come over a lot, Blake, and it's because I don't want those two to inconvenience themselves because of me. They have a social life outside of me and they don't need to concern themselves every day, Blake. If I wanted to talk to Vel I would've called her or found her during school."

Blake blushed madly at the scolding, stopping in her tracks just behind the car and rubbing her arm awkwardly. "Oh… Well… Sorry."

It's okay." Ruby called from the sidewalk closer to the building, "Just a reference for the future. Now come on, if I should deal with them all night, then I'm going to make you do it, too."

"That's fair."

Ruby entered the lobby first while her neighbor was close behind and discovered three familiar faces standing around the front desk. Velvet and Coco were both facing Neo, who was standing behind the desk with papers and binders in her arms, seemingly listening to the young adult duo speak, though Ruby herself wasn't quite able to make out just what they were talking about until she got much closer. By the time she could finally make out a few words from the soft-spoken rabbit faunus, silver-eyes had already connected with the familiar dichromatic eyes of her boss.

"Ah, speak of the devil." Neo easily said with a smirk, causing the young adults before her to glance behind them. "We were just talking about you."

"Oh, boy, you don't say?" Ruby sarcastically quipped, "What else is new with you three? I need to get you all hobbies one day." With a roll of her eyes, Neo dropped the baggage she was carrying and picked up the day's latest issue of the Vale Times Newspaper and began to roll it into a ball behind everyone's back, shaking her head as she did so. While she did, Velvet quickly wrapped up the young teen before her, allowing said teen's shoulders to drop begrudgingly.

"Geez, Ru, we can't take you anywhere, can we?" Coco taunted, only to be slugged in the arm by her sister. "Ow! Geez, back off."

"Okay, stop." Ruby harshly said, breaking the embrace and backing away. "Not that I'm not happy to see you both or anything, but if we can kinda, you know, take this conversation behind closed doors? Because I know why you're both here and I want to explain myself a little bit." She turned and harshly eyed the raven-haired teen behind her, "And _somebody else_ has some explaining to do, as well."

"Blake?" Neo perked at the sound of her assistant's tone, "Not a week in and already causing trouble for your neighbors?" The bow-wearing teen shrugged, trying her best to hide her blush. "You heard the little lady, up, up! I'm coming with because I need entertainment today."

"Go grab some popcorn why don't ya?" Coco quipped before following the group, "Seriously, I think I'll enjoy this, too."

"Maybe later, hun."

"Aw, she called me ' _hun'_."

Ruby turned back with a small grin, "Feel special now, don't ya?"

"Yeah, I do." Velvet held the door for the group after Ruby put in the code. At the ground floor, just before the staircase there was a door with a keypad that blocked someone from going on towards the stairs or to the first floor apartments, and everyone in the complex knew the code but was barred from giving it away. Not even Coco or Velvet knew it, they needed Neo or Ruby to unlock it for them. Once the door was unlocked after Ruby inputted the five-digit combo, the rabbit faunus held the entrance, giving a quizzical glance to the last one in, a bow-wearing, amber eyed young woman who shook her head slowly and mouthed "It wasn't me." Though Velvet realized that whatever this would be about, it will be Blake's fault.

Once up three flights of stairs and into the hall of the third story, Coco peeked down left, then right, then turned back into the landing where Neo had just walked in and where Ruby was right behind her. However, Velvet and Coco were straggling behind, both whispering something to each other. "Hey, no offense, lovebirds, but we're on a timetable, here!"

"Am I keeping you two from something?" Ruby worriedly asked, "Because this is-"

"Nope. I just like messing with them. Velvet mostly, but I could get used to Blake, too."

"Yeah, yeah, we're coming." Velvet said in annoyance, finally making it out into the third-floor hallway. "Let's please just get to where we need to go so that we can get this over with? I'm anxious to know what this is about."

"I am, too." Neo chirped. "It's not every day that you two are _called_ here. Usually you just come in unannounced and welcome yourselves to the complex. I want to know what this is about, too.

As Ruby led the group of five down the hall, Coco continued the conversation with her own question. "Which reminds me, what's the point of having a key to Ruby's apartment if we aren't even allowed to have the code for the complex?"

"It's a safety concern." Ruby chided softly, "If everyone knew the code then what would be the point of having it. It's not that we don't trust you, it's just that… Well, we don't trust other people."

"It's okay." Velvet assured. "I already know the code." Both Neo and Ruby turned sharply in shock and stared at the faunus, who rubbed the back of her head awkwardly and pointed towards her ears. "I can, you know, hear the key clicks and the chime it makes? Hearing? You know, the thing faunus are good at?"

"We get it, Vel." The youngest of the group sarcastically quipped as she pulled out her key to her apartment, "You're good at hearing." She threw the door opened and pointed inside, "Now get in there if you want to hear something funny." Three instantly went in, but a fourth, black-themed group member tried to sneak around the tenant, only to have a quick pinch attach to her ears. "I don't think so."

"Okay! Okay! Ow!" Blake cried before complying, entering the abode before her, followed by the tenant who closed the door and left it unlocked, flipping on the lights. Once there was illumination, Coco instantly jumped onto the couch in the middle of the room while Velvet leaned against the nearby counter. Across the room on the left side, Neo closed the bedroom door, despite the fact that almost all present had been within that room with no issue at all. She still felt that it was too messy to show off as a bedroom. Blake awkwardly walked in and took an open seat at the table, where her bow seemed to droop, oddly enough. Neo joined the new tenant while Ruby walked into the kitchen area.

"You gonna tell us why we're here, Bu?"

"When I'm ready, Coco." The teen sung, opening the fridge, then slamming it shut and walking out with a water bottle. The same one she had given to her from her elderly neighbor the other day. "So, welcome, ladies and… Wow, just ladies."

Coco raised an eyebrow and scrunched her face in a pout, "Almost a nightmare, huh?"

"Moving on. To preface this- and thanks to Velvet for teaching me what that means."

"You're welcome."

Ruby leaned against the same counter that Velvet was against and opened the bottle, continuing on before drinking from it. "I'll start by saying that you honestly don't need to be here."

"Wait, what?!"

"Yeah, maybe a couple of hours ago, I could have needed you, but… I honestly got it all worked out and I'm doing much better than before."

With angered… Or possibly just annoyed eyes, the usually beret wearing young woman leapt off of the couch and glared daggers into the raven-haired teen. "Blake! What the hell!"

"I misjudged the situation… I'm sorry."

"Sorry doesn't cut it! We were worried sick about her after you texted us!"

Neo stepped in and waved the tirade off. "Now, now, I'm sure there's much more to this story and I'm sure Blake has a plausible defense. Ru?"

With a nod, the storyteller continued on about how the day progressed and what Weiss had told her. To what she could understand, she was now under the interested eye of Cinder Fall, who has designated Weiss Schnee to go 'slumming' (as Yang put it) and to find out which person in a graduating class is in a position to be 'better'. She used the same words that Weiss used, which angered Coco greatly, but luckily Velvet's calm demeanor kept another eruption from happening to Mount Coco. Ruby also admitted to how poorly she felt after that and also refused to leave out just why they were all here, and saying that Blake refused to consult her first before making the call that led to this meeting.

Neo was the first to rise out of her chair, putting her right hand around her back and rubbing her chin with her left hand in thought. "So, let me see if I understand this, if I may?"

"Go ahead." Ruby allowed, taking another drink from the now half-empty water bottle.

"So, this Weiss girl goes out of her way to inform you of a possibly sinister plot by the leader of her bitch-friend group, where she goes around and finds an 'undesirable' student in order to make them a 'proper member of society'. When she tells you this, you regress into a depressive state after having your feelings hurt and Blake here, who out of the goodness in her heart thought it best to invite over your closest friends to help you- even though you already had help from Yang- and Blake doesn't talk to you before-hand about all of this?"

With some thought to what she just heard, the silver-eyed assistant eventually nodded, "Yeah, you had that in the wrong order at the end but sure, that's about it."

"Okay, just making sure." With an affirming nod, the short woman waved over the girl with red-streaks in her hair as she stood beside a now tense Blake Belladonna, who could barely even glance over after being put on the hot seat quite a few times already in the last five minutes. Ruby, however, was as reluctant as Blake was, opting to stay where she was at for the time being. "Look, it's either you come to me, or I come to you."

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this, though?"

"Because you should."

"Okay, now I'm really scared." The younger teen tried to hide behind the faunus beside her, but Velvet wasn't letting it happen, stiff-arming Ruby by grabbing her collar and eventually throwing her off of the counter and towards Neo. Ruby stumbled, but easily stood tall after a second and glared daggers into her friend, who was unfazed and nodded in a gesture to get Ruby to pay attention to the woman behind her, who had a sadistic smile to her face. "Be gentle." Was her only request as she slid her feet forward, inch by inch.

"Hm… Nah." As soon as Ruby was in range, Neo pulled the newspaper out of her back pocket with her right hand and swung, nailing her target with a downward swing and smacking Ruby upside the temple.

"Neo!" Velvet cried in horror, easily not expecting what just transpired. She thought it was going to be a hug or at worst a flick on the ear (which is more painful than it sounds, actually). Instead, her friends just got knocked into deep left field.

"Nice shot." Coco complimented easily as Ruby was knocked to the ground.

"What was that for!?" She cried defensively, staring up into sharp, dual-colored eyes.

Neo was quick to respond, placing one free left hand on her hips and gripping the paper hard enough to turn her knuckles white. " _That_ was for being thin-skinned." She harshly chided. "We've been over this and I thought you were doing better, but _clearly_ more work has to be done." She quickly turned back towards the seated teen beside her, who tensed up at the gaze of fury, "And then there's _you_." Before Blake could react, she was near instantly hit upside the back of her head by the same piece of newsprint that just impacted her neighbor. "That was for not checking with someone before making a choice like this and wasting everyone's time."

"Ow!"

"Hurt's, doesn't it?" The inquiry from the grounded rose was met by a familiar roll of paper in her face, causing silver eyes to go wide in fear.

"I'd watch that taunt, young lady. Now…" Neo examined her watch, "I do believe I have some work to do. Ruby, I'll be seeing you tonight-"

"I quit!"

"Nope. Coco, Velvet, always a pleasure." The woman left as quickly as she entered, and as quickly as she turned into a pinch-hitter for the local baseball team, leaving Velvet and Coco to tend to the wounded. Blake was just starting to sit up again, still gripping the back of her head while Ruby was still on the ground. At least until Coco finally got around to helping her up, at least.

"I feel like if I do this, you won't learn your lesson." She said, nearly tauntingly, but there was a hint of seriousness in her voice, causing Ruby to take offense.

"What lesson?" She asked, "I already said I was over it. It was Blake that miscommunicated."

"Not the point, but whatever." With her hand at full extension, the fashionista helped the apartment owner up to her feet, allowing her to regain her bearings as the others got back into the conversation. "She had a point, you know? About being thin skinned? We've talked about this."

"I know, I know." Ruby defensively claimed with a sigh, patting Blake on the shoulder, "You alright?"

"I deserved that…"

"That you did, Blake." Velvet quipped before taking a seat in the chair beside the bow-wearing teen at the table. "Now, Ru, if you don't mind me asking… You've never really seen eye-to-eye with Weiss or her friends, neither have you shown any signs of caring for what they think or have thought."

The young teen nodded before joining the duo at the table, Coco also sitting at the last free seat. "Right."

"So now, out of nearly nowhere, Weiss says something negative and you shut down completely? I'd understand if one of your friends were to genuinely mean it and say it in a manner where they'd mean it… Kinda like how Pyrrha is on a weekly basis; if it was like that, I'd understand… But I'm having an issue trying to figure out why you'd be so upset by Weiss?"

"Well, I mean… Weiss never really gave me a reason to dislike her, it was just guilt by association, you know?"

"Be that as it may, you still wouldn't be so upset if it was anyone else."

Ruby's shoulders slumped dejectedly as Blake watched on, feeling a sharp sense of déjà vu. This was going down just like it would have nearly a full decade ago, only possibly more painfully… Possibly. "It's just... I mean…"

"Is there something going on between you and Weiss?" Coco inquired honestly, not dissing the option. Out of all things, this was the least likely, but it was still a good idea to touch up on it.

"Not really? I mean… Look, a few days ago, Weiss and I were put up to be partners in a science experiment for first block and it went over really well. I mean, at first we both hated each other but we kinda grew on each other as the class went on."

"Really?" Velvet asked, nearly unable to believe what she was hearing. Still, Ruby didn't falter.

"Yeah, and at the end of it we both agreed that we worked well enough together that it might be smart to work again sometime, if the opportunity came up. I thought… Maybe, just maybe, I can make my first real friend at Beacon, you know?"

Both of the wonder twins glanced at each other, then both glanced to Blake, all three shrugging, then Velvet took over again. "What about Yang and the others? And Blake here?"

"Don't get me wrong, I love Yang and all the rest, but… I didn't really make friends with them. You introduced me, Vel. And Blake? It was Neo that threatened my life if I didn't make nice with her. Weiss would have been the first person that I would've been friends with without the help of anyone introducing me, or putting me up to it. I thought I had a chance, you know? Then she just basically curb-stomped that idea and told me that the only reason she was hanging out with me was because of a stupid bet."

With the revelation now revealed, the trio with the caring ears all glanced at each other again, only this time with a sense of understanding, rather than confusion. This explains Ruby's poor demeanor earlier and her reluctance to talk about it; how would Yang have reacted to this? Not well, probably would have been hurt. Pyrrha and Nora, too. Or, they would have understood, after all it apparently took her this long to warm up to the others, which means that for her to have the guts to expand her possibilities and horizons to new bounds and make a new friend on her own is a pretty big jump.

"Oddly enough," Blake began, breaking the silence of the room, "It makes sense… Just, why didn't you say something earlier?"

Ruby shrugged, leaning into the table, "I don't know. Maybe I was afraid of hurting everyone? Maybe I was just to hurt to think. I'm not sure. All I know is that very early on Yang got to me and I talked it out with her and that brightened my day a little bit."

"A little is all you need, sometimes."

"Right." Silver eyes glanced up and gazed into brown orbs, then over into the eyes of a familiar, beret wearing woman, then back to the first pair of eyes, "I'm sorry you guys got dragged out here for nothing."

Coco easily waved the girl off and rose from her seat, understanding that this was now her and her sister's cue to leave. "Bah, don't worry about it." She said, easily, "We'd have done this regardless."

"Probably true. I'll show you guys out." She turned to her neighbor and cutely smiled, "Sorry to kick you out, Blake, but…"

Amber eyes closed slowly as their owner happily sighed, holding a lone hand in understanding. "I've got work to do, anyway. No big deal."

With a nod, Ruby turned back to older friends and nodded, "Ready when you all are." Coco led the way, leaving first. Velvet was next out, then Blake, who left ahead of Ruby after gathering her book bag. She gave the rabbit faunus a quick hug out in the hall, which surprised Ruby. Why would they be hugging? They haven't known each other for that long… Have they? Well, Blake has been an oddly familiar face… Hm. Ruby quickly snapped herself out of her stupor and walked into the hall, checking to make sure she still had her key before locking the door behind her. Waving goodbye to Blake, she led the older duo down the hall and towards the stairs. Once out onto the landing, she broke an unusual silence between the trio.

"Hey, Vel?"

"Hm?"

"Does Blake seem… I dunno, familiar to you?"

Coco began walking down the stairs, leaving the ' _Orphan-Twins'_ as she called them in private at the landing to the third floor to discuss. "what do you mean, Ru?"

"Well…" With an awkward rub of her arm, the young teen thought about how she should say this. Meh, what's the worst that could happen? "Well, Blake offered me a free dinner if I could figure out where I know her from and for the life of me I don't know. I'm not supposed to get help, but she'll never know."

"You hope."

" _She'll never know_." Was the harsh retort, "She just seems so familiar, but… You've obviously seen it, right?"

"Well, kinda, sure."

"Don't lie to me, Vel! I've got a free meal on the line, here!"

"Okay, okay… I won't tell, but I'll give a hint." Leaning in close, the faunus whispered, "Think Patch and a little girl who liked to read." These words left Ruby in thought as the young woman beside her departed, beginning to walk down after her sister and ultimately her ride out of here. "We'll show ourselves out. Good luck."

Patch? A girl who liked to read? Could it really? No, no that girl was a faunus, she had cat ears and… Cat ears that were in the shape of triangles… Just like Blake's…

No way…

* * *

 **Would you believe that there was much more to this story? I cut it down a little bit after this point as it just ran away and offered too much for one chapter. Oh well, right? I think I ended it at the right note.**

 **So we saw quite the development out of Ruby, huh? Not upset at Weiss for any other reason than possibly losing a chance to make her "first" friend. Also, we see Winter and Neo using the same tactic of "discipline". Coincidence?** **We didn't see a whole lot of Yang or Pyrrha or Nora this chapter, but trust me, you'll be getting enough of them soon. In two chapters the party at Yang's will begin and that will be a jam-packed frenzy of dialogue and character building. I'm excited, are you?**

 **So what did you think? Ruby is cheating her way to a free meal, is that fair? Will she even make it in time? What is Blake's overall goal and just what is Weiss looking to do? Tell me what you think and any theories you've got going. You never know, you may be spot on!**

 **Well, I've gotta go. Class should be starting soon. I'll get the next chapter up as soon as possible.**

 **Until Next Time.**


	14. Our Shared Past pt 1

**Who's ready for another dialogue heavy chapter? I hope it's you, because that's all the next two chapters are!**

 **Really, it's going to be more exposition than anything else. There's not much I can say without spoiling, so I'll let the story be my note. Enjoy!**

* * *

Her mind still buzzing, Ruby walked down the hall and stopped at her door, her key in hand and fully extended towards the knob, ready to unlock it. However, she had yet to insert it, something deep within her just screaming out, telling her that she knew what she had to do. Velvet just gave the biggest clue in the world and now was the time to pounce. Even though she was as confused as she was confident, Ruby begrudgingly agreed with the voices in her head and pulled away from the door, directing herself towards her neighbor.

If- and that's a _really_ big if- Blake was who she thought she was, then there are for more questions that Ruby has. Worst case scenario Velvet is screwing with her and this is just a coincidence. Best case scenario…

Ruby stopped at the final door to the final apartment in the hall and balled her hands into fists, closing her silver eyes and taking a deep breath. Could she really go through with this? At this point the meal didn't matter, it was for pride, now. Actually, for far more than pride. With a seemingly reluctant reach, she raised her left hand up and softly knocked, at first, but gradually got louder by the fifth and final knock. From within the abode, she was able to hear a soft set of footsteps approach, which caused Ruby to regret every choice she ever made in her life up to now. Her muscles stiffened, she bit her own lip and prepared to flee, scolding herself for making such a bad decision, such a rushed decision.

Just as she turned to run, the door began to open with every fiber of Ruby's being cursing her name. "Hey, there." Blake easily, almost happily greeted, "That was fast."

"Uh, y-yeah," She stuttered with a sharp tone, though it was directed towards herself for the lack of judgement. If only Neo were here now, she'd probably have the sports section ingrained into her skull. "Yeah, Vel convinced me that they'd show themselves out."

"Ah, I see." Blake nodded with a confused expression, leaning against the door frame and keeping the door open with her right foot. "So… What's up?"

"Well, uh… I…" Great. Now what? She had to figure out something, else she'll look like a bigger idiot then before! Caught under the careful gaze of amber eyes, Ruby straightened herself out and stood stiffly, rubbing the back of her head with a blush. "I, uh…"

She was cut off, however (implying that she had anything to say in the first place) by a soft chuckle. Ruby looked up and blushed when she saw that she was being laughed at, though understood that really, she had this coming. Probably sat for thirty seconds just stammering. "Ruby, it's okay, you know." Blake said calmly, "It's just me."

With a deep breath, Ruby straightened her shoulders and physically relaxed before Blake's eyes, "R-right." She replied, equally as calm as the taller teen, and as she relaxed she found a way out, "I just wanted to… Apologize for what Neo did earlier." Liar. "It's normal for her to do that to me, but I didn't expect you to get it so soon."

"Yeah, about that." The raven-haired teen's face turned serious as she rubbed the back of her head, where she had been impacted by the roll of newsprint twenty-minutes prior. "That seemed… _Way_ out in left field."

"Yeah, classic Neo style." Ruby affirmed with a nod, "She has a weird way of teaching."

"If you call _that_ teaching…"

"Blake, I know what you're thinking, and this is all a usual standard around here. It's all fine, I promise. Still, I'm sorry that she did that to you. You really didn't deserve it."

With a heavy, dejected sigh, Blake shook her head and closed her eyes. "Sorry, neighbor, but you're wrong." Ruby raised a brow in curiosity, unsure of what Blake was saying. "Both you and Neo had a point. I should have talked to you before doing anything. Now I've wasted an hour of everyone's time and given you less time before you have to work."

"Oh, please." Ruby easily waved off in a scoff, "I can go down to her any time I want. All I do is paperwork and math and a little bit of filing. Neo and I keep the place running."

"Is that so?"

"It's a little more confusing than that, but that's the gist of it." Blake accepted the information and nodded carefully, still leaning against the frame of the door. "That's basically it, I think."

"Are you sure? There isn't anything else? Maybe something pertaining to a challenge I gave you yesterday?"

Crap! The one thing she came to talk about and then tried to ignore! Curse Blake for having a good memory! "Well, uh… See," The teen awkwardly rubbed her head before shying away, "I… I think I'm onto something, but… I'm kinda busy right now, so can I get an extension? Maybe until tomorrow?"

Blake rolled her eyes and smirked, "I thought you didn't have anything going on?"

"Well… Work! I have to work, remember?"

"You just said you could go down whenever you wanted?"

"I, uh… Yeah, well, I have to go and help Neo with some paperwork about the… The… Oh, the water main!" Finally, an excuse. "We have some work to do, now that the main is fixed. You know, double checking stuff, and… Paperwork…" Her voice began to die out as the lie finally became fleshed out in her head, causing her to scold herself. Blake would see through this easily, she's not dumb.

But, maybe luck will be on her side. Blake, once again, smiled and shook her head, her arms folded in front of her chest. "Alright, then, sure." She said through her chuckles, "I'm a sport, I'll give you a chance." Ruby's face lit up at the news, but her joy would soon be, almost happily, dashed by her neighbor, "You will have until we get to our apartments tomorrow to tell me what you know, or what you think you know. If you are unable to do so, _you_ will owe _me_ dinner on Friday to a place that I choose."

Ruby's face fell and her shoulders dropped. Pay for a dinner for anybody was a no-go, because she doesn't have money. Neo and Junior pay for her apartment and Neo buys her any of the provisions that she currently has! How is she supposed to get money?! "O-okay, sure. I accept." She reluctantly said, "I should go. Work, and all that…"

"Sure thing." The bow-wearing teen bounced off of the frame and stood straight, standing above the uniformed teen before her. "I'll see you tomorrow. And, do me a favor?" Ruby nodded, raising her eyebrows, "Give your ' _parents'_ my best."

Blake carefully observed the reaction of the short-haired girl before her, who stiffened physically while sharply turning away, almost seemingly in a huff, but still nodded. "I'll see you tomorrow morning, Blake."

"Same time, same place." She retreated back into her own abode and closed the door, leaving Ruby back to her lonesome. She was facing the empty hall once again, but stood by without moving for a good minute, confused with what she should do. She and Neo did have work to do in relation to the now-fixed water main that caused a mess of things, though luckily was resolved relatively quickly. Turns out the boil-water advisory was just a precaution and wasn't necessary, which has a few people up in arms.

Aside for this, however, she really did have nothing to do. Her intention for today was to take a quick power-nap and recharge for a boring, well-written day of work. Now, however, she wasn't even sure if she could think straight; the issue with Weiss was enough to make her lose sleep, but now with the revelations of her neighbor being… That girl… How the hell was she supposed to get anything done?!

With a heavy sigh, Ruby began to walk away, deciding to just skip the nap and go to bed early, tonight. As she did, one thought went through her mind, pertaining mainly to her neighbor: Could Blake already know? As she thought about Velvet's words more and more, everything that Blake has done, every nearly cryptic line makes sense. What makes less sense, however, is why she wouldn't come out and just say it? What did she, and Velvet for that matter, have to gain by keeping this a secret.

Ruby brought up both of her hands to her forehead, running them through her hair but stopping midway and grabbing two clumps, one on each side before stopping in front of her door. She held back an urge to beat herself against the large plank, instead opting to growl to herself in annoyance and confusion: "What the hell is going on, here!?"

* * *

Weiss exited the car and nodded towards the driver within, "Thank you, Klein," She quickly said through a rolled down window. "I'll see you after school."

"Don't forget what we all talked about, Weiss!" The man said with a smile, "Sincerity and grace!"

"How could I forget?" After all, she had the bump to prove it. She turned on her heel and charged into the Academy, passing a large statue at the front near the flagpole that bore Vale's Kingdom Flag. Waving goodbye to her favorite worker, and the man she considered to be the father she never had. Once inside she was hit by a soft blast of mild indoor air, a temperature that matched the mild morning that Vale was currently having. October was right around the corner, and it only made sense that the seasonal change was about to kick off.

As she walked down the main corridor and towards the hallway, Weiss mapped out the quickest way to Ruby's locker. To the left and up a flight of stairs, then out onto the second-floor hallway and towards the Science wing, which from the entrance was one wing over. She had been to Ruby's locker a few times already, the only problem was that she never went right to it from the main entrance, it was always from a different point in the academy. Actually, now that she thought about it, what were the odds that Ruby would even be at school at seven in the morning? Weiss got lucky the other day, but there's no guarantee that this kid will even be here, yet.

And that was an attitude that she should get rid of, soon. Ruby wasn't so much a kid as much as she was just young. You don't get into Beacon at fifteen without being a bright mind, and the project on Wednesday proved that much to be true.

Shaking herself free of these thoughts, Weiss turned her attention down the hall and towards the nearest stairwell and began walking towards it. There were few students within the halls of the academy and even fewer instructors. Classes didn't begin for another hour plus, which gave a lot of time for her to find Ruby and apologize for yesterday. Sure, she could have found her in the usual spot, but didn't want to deal with the hassle of her other friends being there. Should Yang or Pyrrha be in, they might give Weiss a hard time, especially after yesterday. She'd deserve it, nonetheless.

Before she realized it, Weiss was up to the second floor and walked out into the open landing where there was no door or wall between the stairwell and the hallway. Just large and open space. Enough space that she could hear casual conversations around the area during usual class times, but now only heard one. It was a familiar, light-pitched voice accompanied by a chuckle of a slightly more matured voice. It had to be Ruby and that new girl… Blake! That was her name!

Still, how would Ruby react to seeing the girl that insulted her the day prior? Hell, how would Blake react? Despite the passive tone, the girl has shown that she has claws and really isn't afraid to use them. The scarred heiress hid around the corner and out of sight, allowing herself to eavesdrop on the conversation between what sounded like two old friends… But that wasn't right, was it? They only just met each other… Yet, by the tone of their voices they were speaking as though they've known each other forever…

"Is it bad that I can see Velvet doing that?" Blake inquired through a giggle. Ruby was quick to respond.

"Well, we've seen what Velvet can do, you know. But she has Coco to be her muscle for her at nearly all times. Still, I can only wonder and fear what would happen if we made Vel mad enough to jump into the fray herself."

"Dear lord it'll be the good old days all over again."

"Except, oddly enough, more pain."

"Eh… I'm not sure about _that_."

"Oh, meh." Weiss, in her mind, could imagine Ruby easily waving off the new girl with a scrunched face, softly even though she was just listening she knew that was the actions the young teen was taking. "Go do your locker thing and come back, okay?"

"Why don't you want to come with me?" The question had far more of a sly overtone to it, causing the heiress to blush. She didn't mean to hear _this_! What was going on between these two, anyway?

"Because, Miss Belladonna, it saves on time."

"Wow, Coco was right, you are adorable when you try to act tough."

Ruby's instant retort was to, in a sing-song manner, chide, "Get going, Blake." Once again, in her mind, Weiss was able to visualize the bow-wearing, raven haired teen walk away, and her vision was accompanied by a set of footsteps. Blake must have obeyed the wishes of the shorter teen, which left her alone. Prime opportunity, especially for the prideful heiress. Now was the time to strike and apologize, especially since Ruby was alone and there would be no one else to hear.

With a deep breath, Weiss walked into the hall and turned towards the set of lockers on the left where Ruby was standing, fiddling with her locker. The brunette seemed to pay Weiss no mind as she bent forward to carefully examine the dial. Weiss smirked at the sight and shook her head, understanding just how difficult these locks can be sometimes. Carefully, the heiress approached, trying not to startle her objective who quickly smiled before finally unlocking her given space. "Yes." Ruby cheered silently, balling her right hand, her free hand, into a fist in celebration. After opening the door, she slid her backpack off, allowing it to drop to the ground with a thud and quickly shedding her coat. Once she did this, though, she was able to notice a new arrival and put her full attention on a familiar, alabaster themed girl, standing about two lockers away with her left hand over her right and in front of her stomach in a respectful stance. "O-oh… Hey, Weiss."

Her tone was timid, if not shy, causing a feeling of guilt to instantly wash over the Schnee. Despite this, Weiss' resolve barely faltered. She had a job to do and as a Schnee an obligation to make this right. "Hello, Ruby." She greeted back as the silver eyed teen quickly tossed her signature jacket into the locker. "I was hoping I could talk to you about yesterday?"

"Oh, sure! Of course! I was hoping to do the same, I'm kinda confused about just what it is I'm supposed to do."

Weiss happily sighed, hearing the cheery voice from the young teen giving her a sign that maybe this would be easier than she thought. "You don't have to do a thing. At least, for right now." Ruby's face dropped and her left eyebrow raised quizzically as Weiss continued, "I'm not quite sure what our plan will be for countering the bet, if I even want to participate. I want to avoid putting you in harm's way if at all possible."

"You don't need to worry about me, Weiss. I'm tougher than I look, you know."

"I had a feeling you'd say that. One of these days, probably after the weekend, you and I will sit down and come up with an idea or two, but until then I don't want you to do anything. That being said…" She stalled for a moment, considering her next words carefully. "Ruby, I… Want to apologize for yesterday."

Now, the teen with red-streaks in her hair was totally confused. "Uh… What do you mean?"

"When I called you 'undesirable', I wasn't thinking and I didn't realize just what I said until well after the fact. I realize now just how much I could have hurt you and I wanted to say that I'm sorry for not being smarter about my word choices." Nailed it. At least, she thought that at first, until Ruby began to giggle and shake her head, causing her to be flustered and blush angrily. "What's so funny?" Weiss snapped.

"Oh, sorry, it's nothing." Ruby waved her off, "I mean, don't get me wrong, I was pretty hurt, but only because I hadn't been called that by someone who wasn't my friend or wasn't joking or something, you know? It was just kind of a shock and a hit to the pride, is all."

"And you're laughing about it?"

"Only because I didn't really expect an apology so soon, Weiss. Actually, I was afraid that I'd have to hunt you down for one."

"Why would you ever think that?"

Ruby shrugged nonchalantly, "Stigma. Just what I've been told to understand of… Your types… You know, rich people?"

Icy-blue eyes rolled as their owner's shoulder slumped, her stance now breaking from an at-attention stance to a more cockeyed and comfortable position, leaning to her left a bit. "Yeah, I won't deny it… My friends are pretty prideful."

"And yet here you are! Taking initiative!" Weiss turned away at what she imagined was a compliment. "Look, this means a lot, especially from someone who has a reputation like yours."

"I'll still resent that comment."

"I just want you to know that, despite everything that you said, I'd still like to give our friendship a chance. Despite the stupid bet and despite what our groups of friends think, you and I found a common ground, so to speak." A small hand was extended from the red-themed teen, surprising Weiss for a moment. Was she serious? After all that they'd been through, the vitriol and hate and stigma and even all that happened this past week… She still wanted to give it a shot? Not just get through the bet and be done with it…

She was an idealist, wasn't she?

Still, Weiss shook her head with a small sigh and a smile, worrying Ruby. "Look," The scarred heiress began, calmly, "You're a good kid and I'd like to give our friendship a chance, too. But I don't want to drag you down to our level. Truth of the matter, I have more respect for you for standing above us the way you have and even doing this, problem solving and trying to build bridges." Ruby slowly retracted the hand and listened to her guest speak, though a feeling washed over her as Weiss continued, telling her that she knew what to do. Both Yang and Velvet had done that to her, when she got too longwinded. "Thank you for the offer, but until I can get this all worked out, I'm going to- OMPH!"

A force quickly crashed into her and wrapped itself around her body. It took less than a second to realize that Ruby had rushed into her and wrapping her into a hug. Before the alabaster teen could protest, she heard a soft whisper. "You talk too much." This is what Ruby knew to be the right decision. This is what Yang and others must feel when she goes off on her unending tangents, and ultimately this was for the best. The intent was to show Weiss that she didn't care for this or that or whatever the heiress had to say, that she was hell-bent on being friends. "Don't worry, this happens to me all the time."

Ruby quickly retracted just as Weiss was slowly warming up to the idea and began to reciprocate the embrace, picking up her backpack and throwing up her knee to kick the locker shut. She began to walk away, a sign that the conversation had now ended, but a certain blue-eyed teen couldn't let that happen. This wasn't over just yet. "Ruby!" She called just before the silver eyed teen turned the corner. The girl turned slowly as Weiss finally figured out just what she wanted to say. "We'll be in touch." Was all she could get out before turning on her heel and walk away. Ruby smirked lightly and finally walked away towards her neighbor further down the hall, all the while thinking just how smooth all of that Weiss. Yang would be proud.

As she continued to get away from the girl that had been taking too many lessons from an all-too familiar blonde, Weiss walked to the furthest staircase at the end of the hall, the last stairwell… Or first, depending on which floor you were on. As she approached it at a speed she thought was unmatched, she was met by a familiar and obnoxious presence of one Emerald Sustrai, who was leaning against the wall of another lounge area where there was only one cushioned bench and a desk where usually a security officer sat to observe the hall.

"Don't you know it's wrong to spy, Emerald?" Weiss chastised as the red-eyed teen caught up with her. She didn't turn her attention towards the girl, nor did she even consider that her friend was spying. She knew, for this was Emerald of all people. It would be surprising if she wasn't spying and just sitting there just because.

"It may be wrong, but I'm scoping out my competition."

With a huff, Weiss stopped sharply and glared daggers up at her friend, who was still barely taller than she was, even with the heels she was wearing. "You don't even have a target, yet. You don't have a competition because you're not involved, yet."

"Ah, but I have until the end of the day, right?"

"Well-"

"Right?"

"Fine, I suppose."

"Yes! And now can we talk about what I just saw?"

"And what was it you just saw?"

"Oh, you know!" With a nudge, Emerald tried her best to be as sly as possible. It was an attempt to get her friend to break and blush or do something embarrassing. However, Weiss was too strong willed to fall for that. "That little hug from that little brat? Getting in good graces with her early, huh?"

Icy-blue eyes rolled around as their owner shook her head solemnly, annoyedly. She walked away, leaving the annoying friend behind, but she stopped just before she got to the stairs and turned towards her friend with a half-grin. "Let's just say I'm off to a better start than you are."

* * *

Pyrrha sat down at the table beside Ruby, tray full of lunch in hand while across from them sat a familiar blonde and rookie raven-haired teens. The noise of their classmates stirring, speaking and laughing around them silenced the loud devouring of provisions by a certain nurse-in-training, luckily enough. Still, it wasn't a deafening roar, which meant that the group could carry over a conversation. Their table was in its usual spot, though today their seating was different. Ruby and Pyrrha had their backs to the wall behind them, allowing them to see the cafeteria around them. Yang and Blake, on the other hand, had a beautiful shot of… Brick. Literally, just a brick wall. They were that far back in the room.

Aside for that, to Yang's right was a window that was now blind-free, allowing much needed natural light to pour into the room. They would eat outside, but they could see that it was crowded today. No room at any of the six tables, but at least there was room inside! Behind Yang and about three tables over, Cinder and Mercury all sat, but there was somebody new today, someone who looked familiar to the group, but they couldn't remember his name, for some reason. Either way, he was a Junior, like the girls, and a little shorter, probably around Ruby's height, if Pyrrha had to put it. He was bulky, though. Ruby patiently watched how the duo acted around the boy and was concerned, knowing full-well that he was a possible victim to Cinder's scheme. But what could she do? Weiss pretty much barred her from any action.

Speaking of which, silver eyes spotted an alabaster-haired heiress with a darker-skinned young woman close behind her. And behind the second, was… Holy crap, was that Penny?!

"Oh, no…" Ruby muttered to herself, causing the group to glance back at the cashier's desk where Weiss, Emerald and Penny were all cashing their meals out, all conversing with each other. Weiss seemed rather indifferent, yet Emerald seemed intent to hear what the orange-haired girl had to say, smiling as she listened. "I wonder… If that's Emerald's pick for the bet."

"Probably." Pyrrha said with an aggravated tone, "You're sure that you can't do anything about it?"

Ruby shook her head disappointedly. "I wish I could," She admitted, leaning into the table, "But Weiss said that she wants to talk out a plan with me before going further. This is as far as I can go, for right now."

Yang balled her left hand into a fist and slammed it to the table, turning to face the silver-eyed teen with red-streaks in her hair with anger in her eyes. "Listen, Ru," She growled, "I don't care what she says. Don't trust Weiss, got it?"

"No, I don't." Ruby easily countered, "Weiss seems genuinely concerned about all of this, Yang. She wants to do something."

"What she'll want to do is embarrass you further!"

"You don't know that, Yang! Why won't you give her a chance?"

"Because, Ruby-!"

Pyrrha slammed both of her fists into the table, causing the trio around her to jump or yelp in surprise as she cried out, "Enough!" With the attention of her table firmly on her, Emerald eyes calmly opened and turned towards a bow-wearing girl directly across from her. She smiled a toothy smile before saying, "Blake, I'm sorry you had to see and hear all of that." The black-haired young woman waved the athletic girl off as Pyrrha turned towards the blonde, "Yang, I know you don't like Weiss all too much, I get it. But you need to give Ruby an actual chance, okay?" Her tone was a more chastising one, causing Yang to huff and fold her arms in front of her chest. "She seems to know what she's doing and knows more about the situation than we do."

"I get that, but-"

"Ay-up-up! No buts, Yang."

"Anybody but Weiss! Please, even Cardin is a better choice!"

"No, Yang." Ruby firmly denied, "My choice, my friend," She turned to face icy-blue eyes that had locked onto her from a distance, their owner nodding before sitting down once sure that her target had seen her. Ruby returned the nod and smiled, "Sorry."

"Uhg! Fine, whatever. But don't say I didn't warn you."

"Can we please talk about something else, now?!" Pyrrha commanded, "I mean really! Don't we still have to talk about our plans for tomorrow?"

"Yes, we do." Yang sighed with an annoyed tone, "But we should talk with Nora, too, since she's still going as far as I'm aware and I don't want to repeat it all. I'll probably get something wrong, anyway."

"So, what are we going to do?" Blake pondered aloud, causing the blonde beside her to shrug.

"Let's just meet at the usual spot after school?" Ruby offered, which was accepted by all at her table, "One of us will see her once before then, so we'll just bring her right after class. That work for everyone?" The collective group nodded in agreement, causing the one who made the idea to smile. _'Compromise_ does _work! Take that… Anyone who says it doesn't…'_

 _'Good thing you didn't say that out loud, Ru, or else they'd bury you for that. I mean, rightfully so, that sucked.'_

 _'Thanks, Brain, I got it.'_

Ruby shook the thought away and rejoined the real world as Blake and Pyrrha rose at the same time, much to the confusion of the aforementioned Rose. "We're going to the snack bar," Pyrrha said, pointed towards the teen beside her who clearly spaced out for the last few minutes, "You want anything?"

"O-oh, no, I'm fine." Ruby shook her head with a soft smile and returned to her still unfinished meal as the athlete and new girl both walked away, leaving her in an awkward silence with a usually spunky friend. She was worried that if she said the wrong thing, it would break out into another argument, even though Yang wasn't known to get heated with close friends. Still, Weiss seemed to be a sensitive topic… Why, though?

Ruby finished her meal and pushed her plastic tray away from her as lilac eyes began to eye her-their owner having finished her lunch minutes ago. She turned her head and waited the return of her friends to save her from the unusual and fairly odd silence. Would one little spat really effect their friendship this much? Ruby hoped not, and luckily her hopes began to grow as Yang began to speak first through the decreasing noise of the dining hall.

"So…" The blonde started awkwardly, the memory of her spat with the red-themed young teen fresh in her mind. "Can… I ask you something?"

"You just-"

"I swear to god if you dad-joke me I will cook tomorrow and make sure that _only you_ eat what I make."

"… I'm… I'm pretty sure purposefully poisoning someone is illegal, Yang."

"Only if they can find your body."

"Oh geez, okay…" Ruby physically stiffened and shrunk at the threat, wishing that her friends would hurry up and save her. "What's up?"

"What's with you and Blake?" Ruby quizzically raised an eyebrow as Yang continued, "I mean, nothing has to be _up_ , but… I don't know, you two seem to be getting along great… _Too_ great."

"Is… Is that a problem?"

"No, no! Not at all! It's just… You know how I can be, after all. Just want to make sure that my worries are nothing."

With a soft smile, the brunette nodded and thought deeply about her rebuttal, interlocking her fingers in front of her empty tray. "Thing is… We know each other… Kind of. Like how Velvet and I know each other, from Patch."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, we were friends there."

"Coincidence?"

"Oh, man, I don't even think so." Ruby chuckled, shaking her head, "But fate does have a funny way of working, you know. We both know that we know each other but neither of us have, you know…?"

"Done something about it?"

"Yeah! We've just been sitting on it and it's been an awfully awkward week."

The blonde nodded in understanding, nudging her friend's arm lightly, "So what are you going to do about it?" All Ruby could offer was a confused shrug and in reality, she wasn't far from her true feelings. She knew what she should do but now how, also fearing possible repercussions. But Yang didn't need to know that. "If you ask me, when you two get home you sit down before your parents get home… Or, actually if they're home, you kick them out, and you two just talk it out. That's it. There's an elephant in the room, and like my dad says, the best way to work is to talk out the issues, no matter what they are."

"… Not exactly poetry, but…"

"Did it work?"

Ruby smirked, chuckled and shook her head slightly before eyeing the blonde beside her with a gleam of hope in her eyes. "Yeah, it did." Deep within, she felt a small spark of inspiration. And from an unlikely source, too. Yang was good as a hype-girl, but wasn't real strong on inspiration. This, however, took the cake, and even though it was her father's words, it still resonated within the fifteen-year-old and made her want to talk to Blake right now and figure this whole thing out. "Yang?"

"Hm?"

"Thanks."

* * *

Pyrrha patiently waited in her groups usual spot, sitting along the bench against the wall with her arms crossed in front of her chest, her right leg resting over her left and her eyes closed. The index finger of her right hand was tapping her arm to the beat of a song that played in her head, something to keep her occupied while her friends went to retrieve their belongings. Luckily, Ruby Yang and Blake's lockers were all in the same area, but Nora's was on the completely opposite side of the school's Gen-Ed wing, which meant that she would take the longest. They all decided to meet up here after class to discuss their plans for tomorrow.

Though, if they could hurry up a little… After all, Jaune is waiting on her right now, and right after dropping Pyrrha off at the Gymnastics Training Center, he had to go across town, get his sisters from school, take them home _and_ go to his family shop to close for the night. Needless to say, he was busy and currently being very patient with his girlfriend's situation at hand. Sure, he understood proper planning. A necessity in life. But given that he was on the clock with time running out… Things could go a _little_ faster.

Surprisingly enough, however, the first one to arrive was Nora accompanied by Ren. Luckily, neither had to work today at all, which was a blessing, especially given how busy Fridays could be. The shorter teen ecstatically waved her partner away and skipped to Pyrrha with a smile, stopping just short of her bench. "Well, well, well," Pyrrha admonished, "Someone's here early."

"Earlier than most!" Nora exclaimed, "I didn't have anything to retrieve, so here I am!"

"If only we could say that about the others…"

"Say what about the others?" A familiar voice called from down the hall, one that both teens instantly recognized as Yang's. Turning their attention to their right, both watched as their blonde friend led the trio, Ruby staying close behind and on her friend's left with her red jacket over her uniform, and Blake a little farther out to Yang's right. "is Pyrrha talking crap again, Nora?"

"When isn't she?"

"Hey! That implies that I'm a trash talker!"

Ruby smirked and turned away, barely covering her mouth, "Only on Fridays." She coughed lightly as she spoke to hide her words, but everyone knew that move. Luckily, it was well received as most of the group got a chuckle out of it. Even Blake, despite not getting the joke too much.

Pyrrha, however, just rolled her eyes and sarcastically chuckled. "Ha-ha, very funny, nice shot. If you all don't mind, I'd like to hurry, please. I'm keeping people waiting."

Yang pulled both Blake and Ruby in close and leaned them all into the group before loudly whispering, "It's a booty call." Ruby's shoulders slumped disappointedly as she shook her head while Blake began to madly blush, all the while Nora getting her kick out of the joke. Pyrrha, on the other hand, just closed her eyes, held back a smile and blushed until her face was about as red as her hair. "Sorry, Pyr, that was just too open of a shot."

"No, no. I'll make you pay tomorrow."

"Alright, but seriously," Yang clapped, releasing her captives, "We need to talk about tomorrow. Who's doing and/or bringing what? Also, I'm running out tonight to do some shopping, so if anyone has requests-" Ruby raised a hand quickly, but the nurse in training pointed a finger and shot her down just as quickly, "Usual for you."

"Thank you."

"Anyone else? Special trip for food, anything we want for dinner, or are we going out?"

Nora raised an eyebrow quizzically before speaking, "We'll have so many snacks, why would we need to go out?"

Pyrrha jumped in to Yang's defense, though, "Would probably be nice to have a decent meal tomorrow, you know?" The chef accepted the answer and gestured for the blonde to take it away. "I'm good with whatever, so long as Yang doesn't cook it."

"Yes, yes, Pyr, we get it, I'm a bad cook."

"The never-ending joke."

"Anyway! Moving on. Blake, any requests?" The bow-wearing teen couldn't think of anything, so she shook her head. "Alright, then. If any of you want to bring something, let me know so I can adjust accordingly. I'll have the pop and the snacks at the ready, so… All that leaves us is the time."

"Usual deal?" Ruby inquired honestly. The usual deal was any time after two, just so Yang's father could get going for the day. Sometimes Yang would up later, too, just in case she worked with him. The inquiry was met with a steady nod.

"Yup. Usual deal, and uh…" She turned back, her lilac orbs meeting amber eyes for a moment before turning back to silver eyes about seven inches below her, "You're going to show her where to go, right?"

"Already got it mapped out, Yang. Don't worry."

"Cool, great, uh… How long can everyone stay? Do we know schedules?"

Nora, reluctantly, raised her hand, "I took it off, but I might have to come in anyway, because the person I traded shifts with isn't exactly… Reliable…" Yang placed her hands on her hips and cocked her head to the side playfully, shaking her head after a moment.

Pyrrha decided she should speak up, too. "If Nora has to leave, I'm her ride so I'll take her and if I do, there's really no reason to come back, I don't think, since I'm already so close to home anyway."

"Wow! What party-poopers!"

"Sorry, Yang."

"It's not my fault!"

Blake decided she would jump in and try to salvage what she could and brighten the mood. "If it's any consolation, I don't have anything to do Sunday, and I'm not sure about Ruby but I'm sure they'll be lenient on her." The silver-eyed child raised on left hand and shook her head with a grin, stopping Blake from continuing.

"I've already got it worked out with the others. I'm good to show up whenever on Sunday."

With another single clap, Yang smiled widely and rubbed her hands together, "Oh, I love it when a plan comes together… Alright, so…" She turned to her scroll and stared at the clock, the time slowly ticking away for once to their advantage. "Synchronize your watches, people, for in twenty-four hours, we party until the sun comes up!"

* * *

"Is it really going to be as fun as Yang let on?" Blake curiously inquired as she turned the keys in the ignition. Once the engine turned over, she and her younger passenger buckled their seatbelts and waited for an opportunity to back out of the space, unable to do so due to traffic of kids eager to leave the academy for the weekend. "Not that I'm not excited, it just seemed like she was hyping it up."

Ruby shrugged simply, not ever having thought about that. Usually, she had fun at these sleepovers, if that's what you want to call it. "I'll admit, she _may_ have overexaggerated." Ruby admitted, "It's far more fun during the summer when it's warmer and nicer outside, even though they said we'd have a mild weekend I can't help but feel that we'll be basement bound for the night."

"Basement bound?"

"Oh, yeah, Yang and her dad recreated their basement last year and now it's a workout room, and office and a gaming-cave, as Yang put it. They tried to make a bar, supposedly, but didn't have time."

"Aw, darn." Blake sarcastically quipped, "What will we be doing?"

The passenger honestly shrugged as Blake began to back out, finding a space given by a nice Jeep driver, "Dunno. During the summer, we'd go outside in the dark and play Ultimate Cops 'n Robbers."

"Ultimate? What's that mean?"

"It means… Well, you'll find out if you're lucky."

"Why won't I like this?"

"Oh, _you'll_ love it. It'll be Nora and I that hate it." Blake slowly nodded, still very much confused, but wouldn't press further. Whatever the game was, it sounded intriguing but also sounded like hell for some people. "Anyway, what we'll do will depend on the weather. I know that they were talking about rain tomorrow night into Sunday morning, so it all depends on how early we get there and how right the weather people are."

"Implying that they ever get it right in the first place around here." Ruby smiled and let out a soft chuckle as she leaned further into her seat, slouching down and watching the world, or at least the neighborhood outside of Beacon's grounds, go by. The radio was turned down by the driver so she could at least hold a proper conversation. "How do you know the weather report for the weekend if you don't have a TV or a computer? Unless you hide them really well, I haven't seen anything like those in your apartment?"

"I have a radio in there." Ruby playfully chided, "I also see it whenever I work with Neo. She likes watching the news."

"Ah."

"I also have it imprinted on the side of my head, if you recall."

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot." Blake chuckled, "I think I may have the sports section on my scalp." Both occupants shared a laugh as the queue of cars finally began to move again. "Think we'll ever get home?"

"Nah. Not within the hour."

Blake rolled her eyes and snapped her fingers sarcastically before leaning back in her seat, patiently waiting for the right time to move again. "Anything else I should know?"

Ruby unzipped her jacket and stretched her muscles outward. "Unless you want to bring something for everyone to eat, no. Maybe have some cash on hand, just in case we go out? Usually the rule is to pay for yourself."

"Well, that's not too bad, then."

"No, it's not. Last time we did this was before the summer, before they had their basement redone. In the morning, at like, eleven we all finally woke up. Pyrrha and Nora left and it was just Yang and I. She was my ride back home." Blake nodded, gesturing for her friend to continue with interest, "We were so lazy that day that I didn't get back until, like, six when her dad woke up to go to work."

"Wow."

"Neo and Junior were not happy."

"Can I be honest with you? I can believe it." Blake admitted as she finally got out onto the road and out of the parking lot, able to see the traffic light at the end of the block and groaning to herself by the shortness of it. There was barely enough time for five cars to get out. This was starting to get obnoxious. "We need to start leaving sooner." Ruby nodded in agreement while the driver continued, "Anyway, despite what I've seen so far out of Neo, I can tell that she cares a lot about you. More of a 'tough love' kind of woman, but the care is there."

The passenger softly smiled as she reminisced back to the early days with her boss, days that were as good as they were now. Maybe less tense than a few years ago, but still good times nonetheless. "Yeah," She said quietly, staring out the window at the slowly passing wildlife that surrounded the academy. "She's like a mother to me, you know? She cares."

By now, they were a few cars back from the intersection, causing Blake to grow ever anxious. She had her path planned in her mind: Right at the intersection, two miles down the road and to the highway, do some road shenanigans and finally make her way home. "How long have you know her?"

"A while." Was the concise retort. "She was my caretaker when I was a kid, you know? A babysitter, almost."

 _'Oh, little girl._ ' Blake growled to herself at the lie, _'You're gonna wanna retract that statement, soon.'_

Blake stayed mostly quiet since that point, out of nothing more than shear spite, which worried Ruby a little bit. The black-haired driver seemed interested with her up to now, but that interest seemed to die away. She didn't know what to say, either, that could possibly rouse her neighbor. Blake was a tough book to read, that was for sure, and Ruby has read a lot of books in her short time on Remnant. The silence, palpable and awkward as it was, only served to elongate the car ride and cause a shiver to run down the passenger's spine. She felt and odd sense of déjà vu, that she had been in this situation before with this very bow-wearing girl, being silently scolded or possibly even ignored.

Maybe that had to do with the thought Velvet put into her mind the night before?

"H-hey." Ruby called forth the attention of the driver, who finally turned on the highway and moved northbound to home. "About that deal we made last night?" Blake nodded silently, "I-I'm not asking for another extension, if that's what you're thinking."

"Oh?"

"Yeah… I think I figured it out… I think I figured _you_ out."

Amber eyes quickly blinked three times in surprise as their owner's eyebrows went wide, surprised to hear this from her neighbor. How did she figure it out so quickly? She had to have been given a hint, and not any of the light teases that Blake has made. No, somebody helped… Velvet helped. She had to have, it's the only way. "Did you really, now?" Blake admonished, accelerating the car to a few miles over the speed limit, yet still not able to match some of the traffic around her as they sped through the fifty mile-per-hour zone. "And just what do you think you have figured out?"

"Um, well…" Reverting to old tactics, Ruby tapped both of her index fingers together and began to shy away, shrinking in her seat and staring at the dashboard in front of her, "I don't really want to tell you until we get back to the apartment, you know? Just in case I'm right… Or if I'm wrong… Either way I might get worked up."

"Why would you get worked up?"

"Something tells me that you may know why."

Traffic began to come to a halt as the next, and final, light ahead turned red. Less than half a mile was the difference between here and home, which wasn't that long. Five minutes, if that, and if there was one thing that a Belladonna was, it was patient. Very, very patient. "Alright, I'll humor it." She said with a smirk, "I just hope you don't have any plans tonight, because if you're wrong… Ho boy."

"Honestly, I don't even care for the dinner anymore." Ruby meekly replied, "I just… Nevermind, just get us home, alright?"

With a smirk and a huff, Blake glanced to her passenger who had sunk so lowly into the seat she was practically kicking the engine by now. She noticed a small blush on her passenger's face and pondered just why that could be. Regardless, she had her job and her curiosity had peaked more than once in a few minutes… Patience be damned. "Whatever you say."

* * *

 **Uh-oh. It's all about to boil over real quick!**

 **So, before I get into anything else, I just want to say that my schedule is a little shoddy; I got lucky with some off work, but I'm not sure if I'll get that luxury soon, so the next chapter might take a little longer, especially given the exposition that is planned for it.**

 **Now, let's get back to this chapter... I just love my cliffhangers! Seriously, they make the world go 'round, man! I think I'm going to do something different here and let you all tell me what you noticed in this chapter, or what specifically spoke or jumped out at you, if anything. I know Yang's been acting weird and we aren't sure if we can trust Weiss, but Ruby certainly does.**

 **Now, I have a question: I have some space set aside in the next chapter for a look into Pyrrha and/or Nora's life at home. We've seen Ruby and Blake's, had a small glimpse into Yang's (which we'll see a lot more of that later on, trust me) but I want to know if you guys and girls out there want to see the other group members? If it's in high demand then I'll make it happen. If not, then I'm not sure if it'll make a difference being added in or not, so I might just leave it aside. Up to you all.**

 **That being said, go ahead and tell me what you think and how I'm doing. I'd like to know if you're enjoying it or if there's something really wrong, whether or not it's something with the plot or if it's my writing that's off. I want to hear from you, so go ahead and let me have it, even if it's just a guest review! I always reply to questions, too, so feel free to PM me if you have one.**

 **That being said, I'm going to end it here. I hope to see you all again soon, and don't forget to take it easy out there!**

 **Until Next Time.**


	15. Our Shared Past pt 2: Reuniting

**Not much to say, here, but these are getting later and later than I'd like. Hopefully I can change that soon for you all. I'll see you at the end of the chapter.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Edit: Thanks to reader TheShadow977 for calling out a crucial technical mistake on my part, which has been fixed**

* * *

Blake pulled her car into a parking space, the same one that she was able to snag the day prior. If this string of luck kept up, she might just be able to claim this space! It sat in an underhang that was specifically meant to keep the cars dry and that same design wrapped around the outside of the parking lot for the whole structure. However, as you got closer to the building itself, this kind of cover became scarce, and even though there was a bit of a walk between the spot and the front door, it would all be worth it, especially during the winter. She had seen winter time in Vale before, and she knew just how bad it could get.

Speaking of weather, a line of dark clouds were currently rolling in from the sea, indicating that more random acts of rain were upon the city. Oh well, the sunny days can only last so long on the coast. Vale's climate was very mild, having the sea to cool them down, but it also made things very muggy, too. Nearly three-quarters of the time it was cloudy, rainy, snowy, windy, hot, and overall annoying. But sometimes, more during early spring and mid to late fall, they would get a mild streak where the temperature was a nice sixty and the weather would hold off. In fact, these days were so rare and so lucky to come across, schools in Vale had sets of snow days and sets of "nice days", which was like a snow day, only instead of digging out from mountains of annoyance, you were to stay and enjoy the day. Of course, Beacon had adopted this strategy, but they have yet to use it.

She finally parked the vehicle and turned the key, killing the engine as well as the radio. Not like they were listening to it anyway, it had been only a minute since they returned to a tense silence. She glanced at the lowly-sitting passenger, who did her best to keep her gaze locked to the dash and away from the driver. Blake smirked and threw her door open before unclicking her seatbelt and stepping out of the beat-up black car. "Come on," She ordered, "We're here."

Ruby came to life and mimicked the action of the young woman beside her and stepped out of the car, but as her right foot hit the pavement, she felt a sharp tinge in her side, just below her rib. This felt like the same feeling she had a few days ago, in gym class, but it was much more sharp. She clinched her side tightly and groaned lightly in pain, but as quickly as it started, the pain died away. ' _What was that?'_ She pondered to herself, unable to put into words what she just felt.

Blake walked around the back of her car and leaned against the trunk, watching as the younger passenger stalled for time with just two legs hanging out. "You okay in there?" She called with a chuckle, forcing Ruby out of her stupor.

Ruby shook herself free of her thoughts and picked up her backpack, which sat at the foot of her seat and lifts herself out of the car, closing the door as she threw the bag around her shoulders in a two-strap carry. "Yeah, sorry." She said with a blush, "Guess I just got away for a moment."

Blake shook her head and waved the silver-eyed teen off, easily, before walking back to the complex entrance. Poor Ruby was so worried about what was going to happen that she was zoning out, just like the good old days. Nothing really has changed, has it?

The duo walked in together and marched through the lobby that was usually empty, but actually had a few people hanging around. Ruby recognized two or three as crew members, but another group of older men and women, probably seven or eight of them, were gathered farther to the right in a carpeted area of the lobby and sitting around a TV that was playing the weather channel, though it was on mute as the seniors laughed and reminisced. "Hey, wait here for a sec, okay?" Ruby ordered, more than asked. "I should check in with Neo real fast." Blake nodded in agreement, understanding an obligation as it was but was still confused as to why and how this came to be.

She watched the young girl walk into the back area, past the three people, two men and one woman with black shirts and blue overalls, and maneuvered through a door that had a sign: Employees Only. She stood by in silence, fastening her bag tightly to her shoulders and trying to keep her gaze away from the people present in the large room, many of whom she could just feel were gazing upon her.

Clasping her hangs together, her right hand over her left, she hung her limbs in front of her body, her hands falling just below her waist in a respectful stance. Amber eyes rose from the tile floor and glanced around the brightly lit room, first locking onto the female in the maintenance crew, who had been staring with near quizzical interest. Blake passed a nod her way before sighing, glancing away to the carpeted area once the young woman had nodded back. She then turned her attention to the now quiet group of elders, noticing that one or two kept glancing up at her, making her feel uneasy. She had seen how hateful older people can be, and the fact that she was under their watchful eye gave her the shivers.

Why was she given the death stares from so many so early? She was a new tenant and so far, these people were not very welcoming! What was stopping her from just heading upstairs and waiting for Ruby? Because this did not feel right. Luckily, though, the aforementioned brunette didn't take long and reemerged, for some reason with a concerned look on her face. She shook her head at the trio in front of the door, all of whom dropped their shoulders, sighed or shook their head in disbelief and let the teen off while they grumbled and growled.

"Something wrong?" Blake asked, honestly, noting Ruby's odd mood.

The teen shook her head quickly and turned her attention towards the door to the stairs, "No, it's fine, just…" She sighed heavily, "I don't understand adults sometimes."

"… I can _totally_ understand."

"Hey! You there! Girl with the bow!" An older man's voice called, causing the duo to stop harshly. Blake's muscles stiffened as she slowly turned around, Ruby sighing and shaking her head as her neighbor acknowledged the older gentleman in the lobby, staring at a man with a shaved, grey head who had garnered the attention of the rest of the people present, his head craned around his couch. Blake froze as she felt several pairs of eyes on her, understanding just why Ruby would feel a little shy under this kind of pressure in school. "You got a name, sweetheart?" His voice was raspy and congested, but he made no effort to clear his throat. Blake nodded slowly, unsure if the man was able to see that. "You wanna tell us?"

"It's Blake." She replied, shakily.

The man chuckled before raising a glass of a bronze liquid, "Well, Blake, be careful with her." He nodded to Ruby, who had not turned around yet and just smirked, "She's the jewel of this building, you know."

"Really?" Blake inquired incredulously, eying the teen before her as Ruby blushed, inserting the code to the door, "I'll be sure to keep her safe, then." Ruby quickly unlocked and opened the door, entering first and keeping the large plank open so her friend could enter behind her as she quickly tried to escape the public eye. Blake followed shortly before waiting at the first stair for her neighbor to follow. Ruby caught up and led the older teen up the stairs, keeping quiet for a moment or two, before the awkward silence finally got to her.

"Sorry about him." Ruby sighed, cautiously, "I forgot that group meets every Friday."

"Oh, no, it's okay." The bow-wearing teen slyly said, following her friend to the second-floor landing, "Little jewel."

"Okay, no. You _don't_ get to do that."

"Aw, why? It's so cute!"

"And that's just it!" Ruby argued, "I have a reputation here, and that led to me earning that nickname, but that's it! I don't need it to leave and get to someone like Yang, okay?"

"Does Velvet know?"

With a defeated sigh, the teen nodded, "Yes, her and Coco. The latter gives me the most crap for it."

"Oh, I can imagine. Don't worry, though, your secret's safe with me." With a snicker, she paused and covered her mouth, "Little Jewel."

"Stop it!"

"A reputation, huh?" Blake continued to tease, "Just how long have you been working here to earn something so sweet?"

"I kinda do all the PR around here." Ruby meekly responded with a shrug. "I've slowly become the face of management without intentionally becoming the face of management. I didn't ask for this but everyone seems to like me. Even some of the workers."

Bronze eyes went wide with surprise. This soft-spoken teenager had _that_ much say and _that_ much command and respect over workers and tenants of the building? Either the owners are pushovers or Ruby isn't. "That's… Very impressive, actually."

"Thank you." The duo finally arrived to the third-floor landing and since Ruby was the first one up, manners dictated that she must open the door first. She abided by the rules set forth by members of society long past and opened the door for Blake, who nodded in thanks. Once through the door, the duo stood and waited for a moment before the younger spoke up, "So, which apartment are we going to?"

Blake shrugged and bobbed her head around before replying, "Let's go to mine. I don't want to disturb your parents, if they're home, at least." Ruby winced slightly at the mention of her parents, and Blake noticed this, opting to capitalize on it this time. "Something wrong?"

"Huh?"

"You didn't seem to like it when I mentioned your parents… Is there something wrong?"

"N-no… No, it's fine." Ruby assured. "Can we just…" She nodded down the side of the hall where their apartments were, indicating that she wanted to proceed, which Blake accepted, leading the way to her place. Ruby sighed freely, happy to have successfully shaken off another attempt. Or so she thought…

"So, how do your parents feel about you working here?" Blake asked honestly, "Because if it were me, I don't know if I'd be so open to the thought of my child working just yet."

"I guess parenting styles differ from person to person, then." Ruby easily replied, "They think it's okay, as long as it doesn't get in the way of my school. Besides, all I do is paperwork, anyway. Neo or Junior would never put me in harm's way willingly.

"Would they, now?" A lone eyebrow was raised to that comment as the duo arrived at their destination, far quicker than either anticipated. Blake pulled her key out and unlocked the door before glancing back to her guest, "Interesting. Go on in, but if you don't mind kicking your shoes off? I'd like to keep my carpet a little clean for a while."

"Sure thing." Ruby agreed, "Can I drop my bag down somewhere?"

"Oh, anywhere is fine. How about under the coat rack?" The hostess closed the door and nodded towards a coat rack across from a matt that said "Shoes" on it, which was literally the biggest hint that said _'put your shoes here'._ Once her red and black uniform lace less sneakers were off, Ruby dropped her backpack down across the aisle and stood by respectfully, waiting for Blake to remove her shoes. "Don't wait on me." She waved the young teen off, "Go ahead and get comfortable."

"Oh, thanks." Ruby said with a nod and turned back into the apartment that she had visited once before, noticing a stark difference. There was actually some furniture under the boxes! "Wow, you've sure gotten used to this place in a flash, huh?"

"Yeah, you could say that." Blake said with a happy sigh, "It's still a mess, but home is home."

Ruby nodded as she glanced around, the apartment looking so much like her own. To the left was the kitchen, which had two doorways and in-between those two was a glassless window that peeked into the cooking area, enough of a space to allow for food to be passed through or additional anything to be placed for extra room. This addition caused Ruby to be very jelous for a moment or two, until she peered right and found something else to be jealous about.

Blake's family room was an area was a couch and a loveseat surrounding a bookshelf with a display monitor for a TV sitting nicely on top. How those worked was you needed a flat surface and bam, you have a TV screen without the TV. Surprisingly inexpensive, despite the many upsides and conveniences that would totally justify an increased price. Despite all of that though, Ruby noticed that the bookshelf was just teeming with books, so much so that there was a favorable stack beside the shelf in itself. "Doesn't that defeat the purpose of a bookshelf?" Ruby inquired, pointing to the pile.

Blake rolled her eyes and shook her head, "Yeah, it does." She said, annoyedly, "I had to send back an additional shelf I had. It came in all busted and warped and made me so mad."

"Yeah, that sounds obnoxious."

"Oh well, free shelf!" Blake cheerily retorted, walking into the space, "So, do you know why you're here?" Ruby slowly, carefully nodded, "Good, I've been in suspense all day." Blake chuckled easily as she took a seat at the counter, inviting her guest to the empty chair beside her. Though Ruby politely declined, interlocking her fingers together and standing a few feet away. "So, you think you have the answer, huh? How about you go through your thought process with me? I'm eager to know."

"Okay." The teen nodded in agreement, still very tense. With a deep breath and a heavy sigh, Ruby began her explanation: "Well, when I first met you I had a slight sense of déjà vu. I knew that you looked familiar but I just couldn't put my finger on it. As the week went on and I spent more time with you, I began to understand why." Blake raised an eyebrow curiously, but said nothing as Ruby continued, "See, I have never gotten along well with anyone. Never. Unless I knew them somehow. Like, Velvet, for instance. Her and I got along well because we knew each other, but when she introduced me to Yang, I shut down and stayed quiet for a really long time.

It's just tough for me to be comfortable around people, I guess. But you? It was easy to be myself around you and I couldn't figure out why, unless I had to know you somehow…"

"And where do you know me from?"

"Well…" The younger teen rubbed the back of her head awkwardly, glancing away towards the shoes that were neatly placed together near the door, but soon found determination and turned her attention back to the hostess who let her in. "See… I was… _We_ were at a foster home together on Patch a few years ago."

"Oh?" Amber eyes blinked in surprise as their owner smiled internally, "And you're sure of this?"

"I am… Almost. There was a girl who was a lot like you, there. She was nice, welcoming, very polite… She even read to me sometimes. She was the reason why I'm so interested in books, even though my own writing is… Subpar, at best. She had black hair, amber eyes, really liked fish, and the icing on the cake was that she had a pair of cat ears where your bow is now."

A sharp silence followed the revelation, Blake opting to say nothing. Her heart raced with anticipation, with eagerness, but she had to stay as stoic as possible. Part of her wanted to just jump for joy and wrap the little girl she once knew into a big hug, but a more mature side reigned those emotions back and kept her in her seat. She leaned in, turning away from Ruby and fully towards the counter with a big sigh, intentionally twitching her ears, but not to a great degree. "Yeah? And?"

"Blake…" Ruby cooed, reaching out and taking her friends right hand with her left, trying to get her attention, which worked. One amber eye glanced at her, watching a hopeful gleam in silver orbs, "I know who you are, I can feel it. There's just one way for me to figure it out… Please? May I…?"

With another longstanding sound of silence and a tense atmosphere between the duo, the older of the duo considered her options. Ruby figured it out, no doubt, but this last question… Was it _really_ necessary to remove the bow? Blake could just nod and say 'Congratulations, you found me!' or… No, it had to happen. It would mean so much more, wouldn't it? She closed her eyes and sighed, opening the hand that her guest was currently gripping and flipped it over, allowing two palms to meet before closing it again. "Alright, sure." She said with a nearly cheery overtone in her voice, scooting her chair back in jumping down, standing tall above the red-themed teen.

Ruby, who was no taller than Blake's chin, seemed intimidated by the raven-haired teen's near eagerness to commit. She stopped, dead in her tracks, unable to think or move. If she was wrong, then she just gave up a huge part of her history that not even her closest friends at school know about, but if she's right…

Blake smiled lightly at a small blush that reddened Ruby's cheeks, her grip on the hand staying firm, yet lovingly light as she pulled the connected hands up, stopping just below Ruby's chin. "Are you going to do it? Or do you want some help?"

"W-what?" The younger teen stuttered, eyes growing wide with confusion. Blake's smile softened before she bent her knees, allowing herself to be perfectly level with her guests, staring straight into confused silver eyes. Her grip softened as she guided the foreign hand to the top of her head, and she could tell how nervous the teen before her was. If Ruby's heart hadn't jumped out of her chest before, it most certainly would now. From the hopeful, fearful and worried look in her silver orbs to the determined beat of her heart, Ruby took over, and instead of benign guided she strengthened her left hand to overpower Blake's and brought her fingers up to the crown of her friend's head, searching for the knot that kept the bow together.

She easily found it, bringing up her right hand while she fiddled with the knot, careful to not pull too hard, else she could hurt her friend. Blake watched as Ruby's eyes were firmly locked to the crown of her friend, her fingers gently maneuvering and finding the loose strand of fabric to the black, tightly done bow. She pulled the string, bringing the knot undone and finally pulling off the fabric. Blake knew it, the look in those silver eyes, that Ruby finally understood.

The bow didn't make it to the ground before the duo locked eyes, one amber set firmly staring into soft, wet silver orbs. The owner of the latter began to breath heavily, rapidly, her lips quivering with emotion, what Blake could only assume was pure joy.

"B-lake?" Ruby stuttered first, her muscles growing weak, her legs shaking at the face of a friend that she hadn't seen in years. "A-a-are you… are you really…?"

She could not, and would not, hide it any longer. Blake's heart was beating just as fast as Ruby's, and as best as she tried to hold it back, she could feel the dams ready to burst, as well. "Yeah." She said with a slow nod and a smile that went ear to ear, "Yeah it is. I'm the girl from-" She was cut off by a rushing force slamming into her chest, a pair of arms tightly wrapping around her neck. She could hear the soft weeping from beside her as Ruby rested her head on the raven-haired teen's shoulder, trying her best to hold in her emotions. Blake quickly reciprocated the tight hug, having the advantage of being at Ruby's shorter level, she wrapped both of her arms under Ruby's arms, rubbing the teen's back with her right hand while holding up her head with the left. "What's wrong?" She softly asked, knowing the answer to her own question, "Happy to see me?"

"More than anything." Ruby softly whispered back, her legs finally giving out, causing her to slide to the floor. Blake allowed this to happen and instead of keeping the full weight of her friend up with herself, she followed the red-themed teen down, both collapsing to their knees. This once again created a height difference between the two, just slightly, however. Still, it was slight enough as Blake tucked Ruby's head under the nook of her neck, repeating the actions of a few seconds ago as the soft sobs and careless breathing continued. "I thought… When you didn't return…" Ruby sighed through the hiccups and tears, "I was afraid that something… Happened. I'm so glad you're okay!"

Blake winced, knowing the truth may ruin the moment. No, Ruby didn't need to know all that, especially since she herself was trying hold back her own tears, to really no avail as a few drops escaped her eyes with periodic blinks. "I'm glad you're okay, too." She said, "I have so many questions…"

"I do too!" Ruby quickly broke the embrace, keeping her hands on her friend's shoulders, as Blake did the same with Ruby's back, "What happened? Why are you here? Did you-?" She was quickly silenced by a lone finger being placed over her mouth, giving her yet another sense of déjà vu. She must have been rambling, and only Blake did that to her when they were kids.

Silver eyes blinked and focused on a soft, caring gaze from the faunus before her, whose smile was nearly never-ending, but more of a half-grin, almost. With the same hand that was used to silence the younger teen was now wiping away tears that vandalized a beautiful face that never seemed to age from childhood. Ruby retracted slightly to the sudden touch, but quickly realized just what Blake was doing and stayed in place. "We'll have time to discuss the past soon enough." Blake said softly, "Now, though, I want to just enjoy the moment."

Ruby's face softened from a confused look to an understanding and nearly thankful smile, accompanied by a nod before being pulled into another tight embrace, closing her eyes as she made contact with the body of her formerly long-lost friend. Formerly… Yeah, that sounded good to say. "I missed you so, _so_ much, Blake."

"I missed you, too."

* * *

Yang pushed her cart through the store aisles, filling it as she went along. Currently she had three boxes of cans, one box of Red-Dew for Ruby, a strawberry flavored Dew drink that actually wasn't half bad, one box of root beer for Nora (against her better judgement, of course), and a box of Coke for Pyrrha and her. Really, Yang was fine with whatever to drink, she wasn't picky, so she'd probably just take whatever she wanted from the stash (as if anyone would care). To be honest, though, she wondered about Blake and what to get her, but hoped that the new kid would be fine with whatever was available.

As she meandered through the superstore, the blonde kept her mind on… Other things, but not too far away from the raven-haired teen. Blake had been introduced by Ruby less than a week ago, and already they were really good friends and for some reason she wasn't able to shake the feeling that there was something more. What was worse was Pyrrha's words that had been buzzing in her head for a few days now.

 _'And that might be part of the problem.'_

Ever since that conversation, Yang had been doing some serious internal reflection, mostly on her prior actions towards Ruby. She worried that perhaps Pyrrha was right and that she was suffocating the younger teen, but at the same time she worried that perhaps she was doing just enough. After all this time, Ruby was finally starting to respond and was becoming the person that everyone knew she could be, and all it took was a little elbow grease and a friendly disposition. That's what she's known to work.

Turning her cart to face the next aisle, she mindlessly walked the path, keeping an eye out for the snacks on her list, most of which were down the same aisle: Aisle seven. Notorious home to all of the junk food and whatever is bad for you, which was a fair warning for parents to not bring their kids down, lest they face a tantrum. However, for a young adult like herself, Yang and her friends dictated that they could handle the awesome responsibility of the sweets aisle. Whether or not that statement is true is still up in the air.

As she continued her march through the store, her mind went back to her previous thoughts and concerns. For so long she had cared for and watched over Ruby at school and even tried her best to do so from home, but could never understand why. _'I barely even know her,'_ she thought _, 'why do I go out of my way so much for her? Am I just that nice of a person?'_

 _'You don't do this for many other people.'_ Another voice countered her, quickly.

 _'Well… That's because nobody else really needs it…'_

 _'Are you sure Ruby needs it? Or are you just assuming so?'_

She honestly thought that maybe, just maybe, she was suffocating the youngest member of the group. But why would she care so much? There must be another reason to this. Perhaps it was the relationship she had with her mother that made her so motherly? Maybe she's just acting out what she wants? No, that answers too easy for the blonde to come to, to be right. If there's one thing Yang has learned in her short time on Remnant, it's that if the answer to a complex problem is simple, it's probably not the right answer.

Each time her thoughts trailed off they instantly came back to the same point, the same question, with no escape in sight. _'Why do I have such a problem with this? Am I really jealous of Blake_ that much _? Come to think of it, just who the hell is Blake, anyway!? What's her relationship with Ruby and just what does she have that…'_

"Oh my god, I really am jealous…"

Just as she spoke to herself, being brought back into the realm of reality, she began to blink and glance around, finding herself at the complete opposite side of the aisle from where she started and, judging by the barrenness of her cart compared to her list, she zoned out long enough to walk the entire distance without ever picking up any of the provisions she needed. With a heavy sigh, Yang shook her head, brushing her widow's peak away from her eyes and began to march down the aisle again, turning her cart around in mild embarrassment.

 _'I guess I should be happy for Ruby. After all, Blake seems quiet enough, they can probably relate to each other easily. Plus, they live_ right _next to each other and have, what, five or six classes with each other? Of course, Ruby would concede more easily to Blake, seeing as they drive to school together… Blake_ does _seem like a nice person… Probably less overbearing, keeping her distance a bit more than I would. Maybe that's the issue? I'm just too lofty?'_

That seemed like a viable answer. She treated Ruby like a kid, instead of giving her the respect someone at Beacon deserves- especially someone who made it in so early. But how could she change that? It would be difficult, but it would be best to try…

Lilac eyes blinked again as Yang examined her surroundings, noticing something familiar… The milk and other refrigerated goods were to her left and the rest of the store's produce was to her right, far and down while closer to her was… More aisles… Turning around, she saw a noticeable vacant treats section and looking back into the cart, it was still barren…

"Son of a bitch!"

* * *

"Are you excited?" Pthia quizzically inquired as she stood back to back with her daughter, Pyrrha, passing freshly cleaned clothes from the drying machine so that the young adult could fold them. It was a house rule within the Nikos home that you had to do your own laundry, but sometimes Pthia would break that rule and help, just to give herself something to do. "Having a whole weekend off and a few days of fun? I would be."

Pyrrha, who had finished folding her first workout shirt and stacked it on top of her school uniform, which was the first to come out, smirked and pondered about what she could expect tomorrow night. Yang called them game nights, but they were so much more, as it usually involved other extracurricular activities. Sometimes they'd go swimming in the Xiao Long's inground pool, sometimes they'd play a game of two on two football, or even basketball. Sometimes they'd play a game of Cop's 'n Robber's, a call back to their 'friendly' childhood game, using Yang's many rubber-band guns that were hidden throughout her abode. Regardless, the days and nights spent there were usually long, tiring and fun, even with the addition of Ruby last year.

"Of course I am." She responded to her mother, still smiling lightly. "It's nice to get out of the gym _and_ the house every once in a while."

"Don't you and Jaune have your little date nights?" Her mother slyly inquired, causing the teen to blush before turning a stern gaze towards the woman whom she resembled so much of. Aside for Pthia's blonde hair, Pyrrha was nearly an exact match of her mother. Same height, same eyes, same hair length and type: Long and straight, easily kept up- same body type, the only difference was that Pyrrha far surpassed everyone in her mother in terms of pure athletic skill and strength. Even her father, Aeacides, couldn't hold a candle to the young Nikos.

"Mom." Pyrrha blushed, annoyedly, "You can either call them little get togethers or date nights, not a mix."

"Aw, don't be like that." Pthia passed along another shirt, this one was a recreation shirt that her daughter usually changed into after school. "It's the only solace I have, knowing that you're old enough to date. I need something to maintain my youth."

"Oh, please, mom, you look beautiful."

"Sucking up to your mother will only take you so far." A cheeky smile was all the older woman received, causing her to shoot a half-smile while handing over the final shirt. "Do you know what you have planned?"

Pyrrha shrugged easily, "Not exactly, we usually just wing it. Although, we are entertaining that new girl I told you about. Ruby got the OK from Yang and invited her."

"Oh, let's see if I remember that name… Nope, I forgot."

Pyrrha softly chuckled, stacking the last shirt. "It's Blake, mom."

"Oh…"

"Yeah, she lives right next to Ruby apparently, so we thought it was only right."

"That was nice of you." Pthia sweetly replied as Pyrrha grabbed her stack of clothes, following the teen out to her room on the second story of the house, "And how is Ruby doing since Tuesday? Have you two talked more about the volleyball tryouts?"

"No, we haven't." The red-haired teen depressingly sighed as she entered her room, placing her clean clothes on her bed and turning towards her mother, "I told her that whenever she wants to talk about, I'm here. She seems interested, but it's tough to get a bead on her sometimes, you know? Real tough girl to read."

"I see."

"That's not to say I'm not trying, though! I just have to do the opposite of Yang and take things slow with her, give her space to think about it. We might talk about it tomorrow, though."

"I hope you do." The light-blonde woman said assumingly, "She sounds like she has a lot of promise and potential. She'd be a good student of yours." She walked away from the door and back down the stairs, leaving her daughter behind to put away her clothes while she herself moved to finish the laundry of herself and her absent husband.

Pyrrha sighed heavily, closing her eyes as she exhaled at the thought of teaching Ruby. It wasn't that she didn't want to, it was that she didn't have to. "Yeah, she does, doesn't she?" She spoke quietly to herself, standing by her low-lying bed in her fairly large room.

* * *

Ren and Nora hurriedly worked over the running stove as their mentor assisted, the dinner rush now in full swing. Due to the POS system, the Nordic Lotus upgraded to last year, taking and making orders has never been more efficient. It was part of the reason why so many enjoyed their time here: Not only was the orders easy to read, but they were all set up so that you could see up to seven table's orders on the same screen, which was a forty-inch TV. Sweat dripped from Nora's brow as she rushed to complete her task, thankful for Ren, who had come down from the second story to help. He said they had more than enough people upstairs that coming down wasn't a big deal.

Though Ren specialized in his parent's floor and their food more, he was also adept in Nora's family specialty, just like Nora was with both. This made them mavericks and easy-to-place chess pieces, as Ren's father put it, as if they were ever needed (like they were now), they could assist in the kitchen, on the floor or even on dishes, though the latter-most rarely happened.

A large man walked through the knob-less door, his pure orange hair hidden under a baseball cap, and he examined the workers around him. "Doing good back here?" He inquired to all, to which he received silent nods from his loyal crew. "Good. We've seated everyone so we should die down in an hour or so."

"Are you helping us, dad?" Nora inquired. Her father, a man (literally) twice the size as his daughter in terms of both height and width, nodded, his shaved arms raising up as he held a thumbs-up in approval. "I'm helping the girls pass out food down here. Ren, I can't thank you enough for helping us down here."

The green-apron-wearing boy shook his head as he plated an order of lamb, "Don't worry about it." He said, "I'm happy to go where I needed. Besides, this kitchen smells like variety, Cyrus."

The large man heartily laughed, placing his fists on his hips, "I'll be sure to leave that comment down here, young man. I'll be honest, though, I came in here to have a word with my daughter. Sweetheart, do you have a minute?" She grasped a spatula in her right hand, flipping an order of well-done steak while spinning a bowl of soup with her left to keep it from stagnating and drying out. She glanced to her dad and simply shook her head, which he didn't mind. "Then I'll just say it now: We can't get a hold of Barron, the boy who you traded schedules with. We can't confirm that he'll be there on Sunday."

"What!?"

"I know, I know." He held his hands defensively, holding back an unfortunate barrage from his energetic daughter. "I don't want to do that at all and I wish that I had another replacement in mind, but you're the only one who knows the morning crew and we're already down two guys! I'm filling in for one and we're just undermanned in that department."

Nora looked to her friend with a pleading, begging look in her eyes, but knew deep down it was a futile attempt. Ren would be closing down and that meant staying until possibly two in the morning. Making him open at seven and prepare for the post-church crowd wouldn't be fair to him. The restaurant has been… Lacking in the early day shifts, only because it's tough to find good people willing to work that early.

With a reluctant and reserved sigh, the daughter and crown jewel of the Nordic side of the Nordic Lotus nodded in agreement, "Okay, dad. I'll be on call."

"I'm sorry, honey." Cyrus said solemnly, "I'm trying to find someone to fill that spot. We'll talk about it later, okay?"

"Okay. Thanks, dad."

* * *

Blake walked out of the shower and picked up the nearby thick towel, beginning to dry herself off as her body adjusted to the chilly room. In all honesty, it wasn't chilly, but it also wasn't a ninety degree shower. It was nice to finally bathe again in her own abode, now that the "crisis" of the water main was fixed. In fact, the issue was resolved so quickly, Blake wondered if it was even a big deal at all. Didn't seem so to Ruby, at least.

While she finished cleaning herself, she opened her door and walked into her room, which was no more than five feet from the bathroom, a rarely appreciated luxury, for sure. She glanced at her dresser where a set of clothes that she had picked out prior to the shower sat: A white undershirt with a black button-up over shirt accompanied by pitch black skin-tight pants. It wasn't exactly the most modest thing for her, but her mom said that it looked good on her. Then again, Kali has always been one for more form-fitting attire, no matter what.

As she began to dress herself, she glanced outside her window and out into the sunny day, the city of Vale in the skyline. From here, it was actually quite beautiful, seeing the city the way it was. Her first night there, she spent time on her patio, just standing and watching the city as the night overtook the sky. In the morning, she awoke extra early just to see the sun rise over the horizon, the city in front of it, backlit majestically, though she wondered what the view would be like without the towers and skyscrapers of the big city blocking the coast. Either way, the view was marvelous.

Buttoning up her over shirt, Blake began to ponder about her neighbor and her preset plans for the weekend. Really, she wanted to know more about the current situation with Ruby, as the night prior the two finally got reacquainted on the level they truly know each other. After a very pleasant half-hour where they silently shared an embrace, they began to reminisce on old times- not necessarily the happiest of times, but they were still memories with each other. Those childhood thoughts brought the two to wonder about what happened to the foster home they once called home, and of the old tyrant that ruled above them, and they gladly began to theorize that either the law got to her, liberating the other kids, or that the heavens got their brand of justice and washed her away in a flood.

Both were accepted options, even though they were just jokes in themselves.

What Blake wanted to ask was how the young teen had gotten here, specifically; what led to her current condition and a vast, detailed history that not even Velvet could give. And Velvet can make _anyone_ talk if she asked nicely enough. Alas, the moment they had a chance to talk it over and discuss situations, Ruby received a call to work, one that even she couldn't deny. It wasn't too bad, though, living next to each other, they literally have all the time in the world to talk about this! Plus, Ruby looks like she's here to stay and from her meeting last week with that special someone, it looks as though this is finally a more permanent option for Blake- mainly so that she can receive the literal _best_ education in the world at her current level.

Finally dressed, Blake concluded that she couldn't wait any longer. Patience was a virtue, but excitement was palpable. During her travels, she worried for not only Velvet, but for Ruby's wellbeing and wanted her two closest friends to have nothing more than their dreams come true: Velvet finding her loving home, and Ruby finding her loving family. Glancing at the clock, she said aloud: "Ten-twenty-three. Perfect timing." The thought planned in her head: She owed Ruby a meal, so instead of wasting it on a dinner that would probably be covered by their friends (she just didn't see going out as an option, for some reason), she would treat Ruby to lunch, and they would take the time from now to when they leave and all the way until they arrived at Yang's house to talk. Hopefully a simple idea, considering that leaves a good four, maybe five hours of heart to heart discussion.

She picked up her phone and instantly went to her contacts app, scrolling to the 'R' tab and finding the only contact: Ruby Rose. She hit 'dial' and waited while the phone rang… And rang… And rang… Until finally, she hit the voicemail… Wait, it's passed ten in the morning and Ruby isn't up? That's not right… She tried again, only to be sent to voicemail again after four or five rings.

Now this was messed up. She could be in the shower… No, wait, Blake couldn't hear the water running. That was the one upside to being neighbors, she could not only hear the water running through the pipes of the wall, she also could hear Ruby's footsteps (compliments of faunus hearing!), so Blake was able to take a guess at just what the young teen would be doing. However, in the half-hour that she herself had been awake, she had yet to hear her old friend next door. Worry began to wash over her as she decided to investigate. Grabbing her keys off of the counter, she headed out the door with no shoes and ensured the door behind her was closed before approaching the next door down. Knocking a few times, she inched her way closer to the plank, and heard nothing within the abode.

This did not bode well. Either Ruby wasn't home (which was an odd thought) or something happened to her… Please let it be that she wasn't home right now. Perhaps she was getting some last-minute work done with Neo? She quickly walked back to her door, opened it, slipped her lace less shoes on and ran out the door again, making a B-line for the stairs. Blake remembered her neighbors departing words last night, after receiving a phone call from her boss at just past six.

 _"I've got to go,"_ Blake recalled Ruby saying, almost shakily, _"Something doesn't sound right, down there…"_

What could it have been that provoked such a fearful response? From what she could tell, Neo was annoyed by something on the phone, which made her worry that she and this Junior person had once again gotten into a fight. And Ruby would be walking right into the middle of it again? That's not a good thought.

 _'This really is like the good ol' days.'_ Blake chuckled to herself as she descended the flights of stairs, _'I'm worrying about Ruby just like I did on Patch.'_ She made it to the bottom floor and walked into the main lobby, examining the empty surroundings until she found a familiar reception area, this time inhabited by one of her targets. Neo sat, her left hand occupied by a paper and her right hand tapping a pencil into her temple in annoyance with a face that said 'what the hell am I reading?'

"Neo!" Blake called as she approached the desk, rousing the short woman to attention.

The di-chromatic-eyed woman smiled softly at the sight of her newest patron, "Hello, Blake." She greeted back, "Good to see you again. I hope you're enjoying your time, here."

The black-haired teen nodded firmly, "Yeah, it's pretty good here, so far." Her tone indicated that she was in a bit of rush, which confused Neo. After all, all night Ruby went on and on about how usually patient of a girl Blake could be. What could this be about? "I was just wondering, because she won't answer her phone, have you seen Ruby?"

Oh, that's what this is about? Well, she could answer the question, or… "Hm…" The woman sat back in her chair in deep thought, rubbing her chin and dropping her pencil, "Ruby, Ruby… Girl, about, eh, _yay_ -high-" She held up her hand to a height barely reminiscent of the young teen's accurate height, "- Wears mostly red, has red streaks in her hair?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Haven't seen her _conscious_ today."

Amber eyes blinked before their owner raised a brow, "What does that mean?"

The short, commanding woman jumped out of her chair and wagged her finger at her new tenant, silently gesturing to follow. Blake did as she was told, hoping to get an explanation. She didn't have to wait long, as Neo began to talk when they reached a familiar door on the right side of a hall. "I called her down last night because there were some… Discrepencies in her paperwork from earlier this week. I don't know if it was an honest mistake or not, but the banking for the building was all wrong and, since the bill isn't due until tonight, she and I had to go through the whole thing together and find the problem."

"Ruby and math problems? That doesn't sound right…"

Neo smirked before opening the door, revealing her humbler abode. "You seem to know her already." She led Blake in before silently closing the door behind her, allowing the tenant to review the accommodations. A holo-TV monitor sat at the farthest side of the windowless space. On the direct right side of the room after walking in was a bathroom, the door closed but the light off. After that, there was the kitchen on the left, an open space with a U-shaped counter. On the right side of the space was a table with five chairs around it and beyond that was a small hallway, the lights to both dining room and hall off but the kitchen remained on for some reason. Passed the counter there was a couch and to the far right a reclining chair. As she entered the space more, she heard the soft, faint snoring from the far side of the room.

"Once she found the issue, she assured me that she could handle it. I've seen her tackle tougher issues on her own, so I let her be for the night. When I got up this morning to set everyone up for their jobs today, she was passed out over a seal envelope." Blake could picture the sight as Neo stepped in front of the couch, waving the teen over, "I couldn't bring her back to her room so I helped her here." Turning the corner, the bow-wearing teen let out a small 'awe' at the sight: Ruby was faced down on the couch, her feet sticking out of the blanket as they sat on the arm rest of the couch, her right arm tucked beneath the pillow while her left arm kept the blanket- more of a comforter- over her shoulders. "She's been here since about seven this morning."

"I don't mean for this to sound… Off, but… D'aw!"

"Doesn't she look so adorable? Only when she's sleeping, though, right?"

Blake shrugged, her smile still not letting up by the sight, "I wouldn't know." She whispered back, "I've only known her awake."

"Oh please, Blake." Neo easily and harshly replied, waving off the girl, "I know every little thing that goes on in Ruby's life. You don't think that I wouldn't know the arrival of one of her old friends the moment it happened?"

"Wait, what?"

The woman could tell by the confused tone that Blake was confused and concerned, so she explained, "See, last night Ruby had this never-ending smile, so when I inquired why, she told me about you. Everything that she could remember about you. She seemed really happy, about as happy as her first day at Beacon."

"R-really? So…?"

"I know about you and your time at Patch with her. And don't worry, just like I do with her, your secret's safe with me, too." She peered back at the slumbering teen on her couch and shook her head, "I know you have a thing with her friends today, so if you want to wake her up, that's on you. If not, you can just leave her here and I'll get her at… Say, noon." She began to walk away, but turned around as another thought broke her mind, "Oh, and Blake!" Amber eyes looked up with interest, "If you ever want or need to know anything about her that she won't tell you, come to me. You automatically have my seal of approval if you're like Velvet."

Blake smiled as the woman left, but when the door creaked shut, her face dropped. No, she wasn't like Velvet. She was nothing compared to Vel… The rabbit faunus would be happy to put on a brave face, but… _'I'm just a coward compared to her…'_ She shook the depressing thoughts out of her mind and glanced back at her old friend, once again feeling a sharp and gladly accepted sense of déjà vu. She recalled the time at the home when it would be morning and Ruby was still sleep, much like in the form like she was now. The brunette didn't move much, but Blake could recall an issue with actually falling asleep. How long had she been like this? Either way, now would be the best time to wake up, if they were ever going to make it to Yang's.

Blake bent down beside the couch and softly placed her hand on the nearest shoulder of the slumbering child, shaking her lightly before retracting the hand and waiting for the chain reaction to take it's course. She didn't wait long as her friend began to stir, clinching her silver eyes shut before receding into the couch more, hiding beneath the comforter with an audible groan. Blake smiled, not expecting this much of a reaction.

"Come on, Neo," Ruby complained, curling into a tight ball, "five more minutes."

The raven-haired teen shook her head before chuckling, moving from a kneel to a sitting position in front of the couch. "Even _if_ I were Neo, I'd have to say no."

The rustling beneath the blanket stopped momentarily as Ruby began to identify the voice she just heard. It was definitely familiar, but wasn't Neo's. Nor was it one she was expecting… peeking her eyes above the purple comforter, she worriedly locked eyes with a familiar, disguised Faunus and gasped. "Blake! Oh, geez! What are you doing here?! Where's Neo?"

Blake laughed as her friend scrambled to a sitting position while attempting to cover her fully clothed body with the comforter. "It's okay, Neo invited me in. She really _does_ seem like a nice woman."

"I told ya… but that doesn't really explain why you're _here_ …"

"To look for you, silly." The Faunus chided, "you wouldn't answer your phone and I got worried. I didn't know what happened after you left last night. We still have a lot to talk about, you know?"

Silver eyes went wide with realization as their owner understood just what Blake was referring to, maneuvering to a fully seated position, her legs dropping to the floor as she threw the covers off of herself, exposing her recreational clothes that she changed into before coming to work. Ruby clasped her hands together and leaned inward, almost as if she was nervous about something. "Yeah, that… um, Blake? Is there any chance that we can… postpone that until, say, tomorrow after we get back? I know it might be more tension but-"

"Oh no, its fine." Was the interrupting response, accompanied by a simple wave of the hand, "I understand completely. It'll be easier, too, in the long run. I can wait."

"But we can totally take some time to talk now, while we're getting ready to leave! A-and even for the ride in! That won't be too bad, right?"

Blake simply closed her eyes and chuckled before shaking her head. "Sure, I think that'll work."

Ruby nodded thankfully before jumping out of 'bed', "Good, thank you." She turned and began to ball up the comforter, but left the pillow where it lied. "Let me just do a few things and we can get going."

The disguised faunus raised an eyebrow before standing straight up, folding her arms just below her chest, "What time do you think it is? I'm not sure if Yang would like us coming at this hour…"

"I… Wait, what time is it?"

"Quarter to eleven."

Ruby paused, standing with a thick ball of blanket folded in her arms, clearly standing in thought, "Oh… Well, I think we have a little more time…"

Blake's smile widened as Ruby placed the comforter where she knew it went: A crate beside the couch and behind the counter overhang, "I think so, too."

* * *

 **Would you believe me if I said this had a lot more to it? In all actuality, the way this went, it was set to be 15k, maybe more, but I learned my lesson from a few chapters ago and made this into a two-parter. That being said, I can already tell you for a fact that Yang's sleepover is going to be at least two parts, maybe even three, but it's going to be a lot of fun.**

 **Next chapter is almost 90% Ruby and Blake with the duo eventually leaving for Yang's. We'll get to see a good idea of the Xiao Long household of this world, and maybe we can see just how Nora and Ren's family work out living conditions properly sometime in this story.**

 **Speaking of which, I used Pyrrha's parents newly revealed names, HOWEVER I don't know if it's right for each one, so if we find out that, no, it's not right, I'll come back and change it. Also, Nora's parent's names are placeholders. All susceptible to change. I'll do it like nothing ever happened, too.**

 **Now that we've gotten that out of the way, how was this chapter? Kinda jumped around the tearjerker bits, and Ruby finally pushed herself out of the corner and revealed what she knew to Blake. Now that their reunion is out of the way, we can concentrate on exposition for the future! Also, we saw Yang struggle with her thoughts and try to figure out just why she does what she does, even getting another mention of her mom! We saw that Nora's coworkers suck donkey dicks… Okay, I'm living vicariously through her on that one. My coworkers have pissed me off to the point where this one character is this guy I work with and he has no clue. Fuck it, dude's an unreliable douche. Anyway, rant over, we saw Pyrrha getting razed by her mom, something which I hope is actually canon. I see her parent's as orderly and proud, but not strict, actually being kinda lenient. At least, that's my personal headcanon.**

 **So, as always, tell me what you think and just what you hope to see! One of these days I'll figure out exactly what day and month this story is in and adjust accordingly. We'll see you in the next chapter and as always:**

 **Until Next Time!**


	16. Our Shared Past pt 3: Catching Up

**Alright, so… Holy shit. This chapter is so insanely heavy on dialogue that it's not even funny. It is the biggest info drop of the entire story and we still have a projected 40 chapters to go before the end** _ **, AT LEAST**_ **. Yeah, let that sink in. You're going for a ride, now!**

 **Before I leave you to the story, I should point out two huge discrepancies that I made last time. First off, TheShadow977 deserves another shoutout for pointing out my lack of continuity with Pyrrha's mom's name. Second, a shoutout to Kid Nonexistent. Turns out that no, Pyrrha's parents names weren't revealed. I have yet to see the latest chapters of RWBY (time has not been on my side and I stopped at ep. 6), and my friend convinced me that those names were their names. In actuality, they are the names of Pyrrhus' parents, the historical figure that Pyrrha is based off of.**

 **Whoops.**

 **I'm not going to change my mistake in the AN, I'm owning it as my own for not doing my own research. And, I'm sticking to my guns that whenever the real names are revealed, I will change them accordingly for both Nora and Pyrrha, and everyone else's parent who I will have gotten wrong.**

 **Now that that's out of the way, I leave you with a sea of information. Go nuts and I'll see you at the end!**

* * *

Ruby led Blake up to her apartment after sneaking by a seemingly irate Neo, who was on the phone with a worker. The only reason Ruby knew it was a worker was because nobody else earned the loving nickname of "Dipshit McDumbass", a prestigious title only held by one… And that was Junior on a bad day. After she had put her covers away, that were graciously donated by her boss for the night, Ruby pulled out her keys and tried her best to quickly unlock the door, much to Blake's surprise. Since she got into Neo's home, she hadn't seen her neighbor pick up or drop anything, which made her wonder where the set came from.

"Hey," The faunus began her inquiry as the plank pushed open, "Do you… Did you sleep with your keys in your pocket?"

Ruby easily nodded with a stoic expression, "Yeah, I did. I do that, sometimes. It's no big deal, it's only one key." When, in reality, it was two… Still, Blake accepted the nonchalant reply and was allowed entrance to the abode of her old friend. Walking into the familiar space, she truly began to get an understanding for what Ruby was dealing with. Turning on a heel, the faunus shrugged, almost as if she was going to ask a question. Instead, however, Ruby beat her to it. "I know that you know by now that there really isn't much to do, so… It wouldn't hurt my feelings in the least if you went back to your place while I do my thing. Just saying."

Amber eyes closed slightly as their owner considered the proposition. Really what would she do in the apartment? She didn't even know what Ruby had that could keep her busy… As reluctant as she wanted, Blake left it to logic. "I don't want to be a distraction. Go ahead and do your thing, just call me when you're done."

Ruby nodded easily, accepting the reason. Though, she saw through the lie. Blake wasn't going to be a distraction, she just wouldn't have anything to do, here. She wasn't hurt by it, actually understanding more than anything. Her soon-to-be-guest walked off to her own home, leaving Ruby a time limit that she gave herself. Twenty minutes to shower, dress and call Blake back. Packing for tonight can wait.

She ran inside and closed the door behind her, shedding her clothes as quickly as possible. Her sweatpants were probably good for another night, despite the fact that she slept in them, but in all honesty, it didn't matter. Saturday, she was going to Yang's, what could she expect from the informal Xiao Long family? Jumping into her bathroom, she decided to time herself and see how quick and thorough she could be with this level of excitement.

She turned the water on and let it run, allowing it to get up to heat while shedding the last remnants of her clothes, tossing them across two doors and into the basket beside her dresser. Somehow, she was getting better at basketball, but only if the ball was various articles of clothing. She glanced behind the door and ensure that she had a dry towel, which she did, and placed it in the dry sink. Another towel on the floor to keep her from slipping and all was set, allowing her to jump into the soothing shower. Really, it was a bathtub, but it had a shower head on it, and two different dials for either a bath or a shower. Ruby never really noticed this before, or maybe she just never cared.

She glanced outside her bathroom and noticed the door she left open (on purpose, of course), going so far as to not even pull the curtains closed. She didn't care, it was her apartment with nobody else in there. Who did she have to hide from? She even locked the front door so nobody could get in, and even if Neo decided to barge in, what would be the surprise? Not like the woman hasn't seen it all before anyway. Ruby never really cared about privacy when she knew people, hence why she was a completely different person at school than she was at home.

Putting that all aside and shaking the thought free, Ruby realized that she was on the clock and picked up the nearby shampoo bottle. She didn't know what brand it was, all she knew was that it was strawberry scented, and that was all she needed. Getting a good lather out of a nickel-sized puddle in her palm, she massaged her scalp away from the falling water, forcing her eyes closed, lest she face the burning sensation of a few getaway suds. Once she was positive that her short hair was all lathered, she ran her head under the running water and reached for the body soap, another brand she didn't recognize but of course, did care for. She repeated the process as before, only this time with her body and let the water rush over her for a few extra moments before finally shutting it off. That _had_ to be less than five minutes, tops! New record!

Jumping out and grabbing the towel she went to work and quickly dried herself off, though part of her wondered just why she went so fast. What was the point off all of this? She had, what, three hours alone with Blake? Probably more! Maybe it was excitement, maybe it was happiness? Maybe she was eager to find out where her long-lost friend had been all this time.

Ruby recalled the previous night, having been interrogated by Neo over why it looked like she was crying, who had hurt her. She had to spill her guts, but was glad to do so. She had to tell somebody about her discovery, that her own feelings were correct and that she had been reunited with one of her closest childhood friends who mysteriously disappeared one night.

Fully dry, she hung up all of her towels and shut off the lights in the room, walking into her room and flipping the lights in there on. For some reason or another, it was rather brisk in there. Even though the door was open and the air could circulate… Stupid science and stupid air for not working the way she wanted! She pulled open her drawers and found a pair of matching undergarments, dressing herself as she checked the time on her phone. She was almost right, just about seven minutes of shower and dry off time. _'Pretty good,_ ' she thought to herself, as usually Saturday showers were long and relaxing.

Once finally dressed and phone in hand, the brunette flipped her device open, but had a second thought. She knew the walls in this place weren't the thickest in the world because she could hear her neighbors on either side of her walking around or even talking. The people who used to live where Blake currently resides talked very, very loudly, a lot.

More so than Neo and Junior…

She walked closer to the wall that sat behind her bed and leaned in, having her progress be stopped by the nightstand, and knocked against the wall four steady times. She waited a moment to see if she could hear a rustling or any form of movement before repeating the action, her fist hitting the wall harder than before, but not too hard. This time, she was met by three light taps back.

"Blake?" Ruby whispered, retracting her hand to her chest, "Can you hear me?"

She could make out a faint giggle from beyond the wall, "Yeah, I hear you." Ruby smiled lightly at the response, knowing now that this could be a better way of communication between the two. "Is this your call? Are you ready, now?"

"Yeah, I'm good." She realized that she was still without a shirt, but that was a quick fix. Besides, her modesty was still covered and Blake had been in the locker rooms with her, so what was the big deal?

 _'… Oh my god, I'm becoming Yang…'_

Ruby shuddered at the thought before calling back, "If you're still there, my door is unlocked so come on in." Turning towards her dresser, she pulled open the second drawer and noticed a distinct lacking styles, only having two shirts left… Odd, she usually had six, two deep-red cotton (one of which having a rose embroidered on the front, left chest as a gift from Neo last Christmas), one black shirt with Beacon's insignia on the same position as her school uniform. This one was deemed to be acceptable as a uniform, so long as you wore the appropriate pants that matched the outfit, just in case you didn't have a proper uniform to wear. The other shirt was a skin-tight white shirt that was usually used for work around the apartment, or general play outside of home. The last two shirts were light grey, thin cotton that went over something. However, all but the Beacon Alternative Uniform and one grey shirt was left… _'I could have sworn I did laundry…'_

Shaking the thought away, she knew she had little time before Blake walked in. None of these were what she wanted to wear, but to go with the black with a red-tint sweats, she would take the BAU for right now. It, too, was cotton, which made Ruby realize that she really didn't have much in the way of general style. But what was she to do? She didn't have a lot of money… Besides, the BAU was also a recreational shirt, so she didn't have much to worry about.

As she threw the black-and-red shirt over her head, the young teen heard the front door open and a voice call in. "Ruby?"

"O-oh! Yeah!" _Crap_! "Just one minute!"

"If you're not ready, I can-"

"No, no! I'm good!" Even though her head wasn't through, her arms were and most of her body was covered, which was good enough for her. Ruby rushed out, stubbing her toe on the end of the dresser on her way out, causing her to wipe out and crash into her door with a thud. "Ow!" She cried as she slid down the plank, half of her face shining through the gap in her shirt.

Blake gasped, covering her mouth in stunned surprise by what she just saw. Quickly approaching the entrance to the bedroom, she stared down at the girl with only one-eye revealed, who glanced up and chuckled softly, "Heh, uh… Whoops."

"Are you okay?" The faunus inquired with a worried tone, kneeling down beside her friend.

Ruby nodded and forced her head through, shaking herself free of any constrictions, "Yeah, I'm fine. My pride's a little hurt, but other than that…"

Amber eyes blinked and their owner giggled before standing back up and offering a hand to her hostess, "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone what I just saw." The would-be victim of a prideful massacre accepted the help up, achingly rising to her feet and nodding in thanks. While she did, Blake took the time to glance inside her room and examined it quickly, noting a great mess of clothes scattered across the floor. Though it was dark, she could see clearly within and even saw an open dresser drawer. "Didn't get to laundry, yet, huh?"

"O-oh… No, I haven't." Ruby replied defeatedly, causing Blake to chuckle again. "Sorry about the mess."

"Oh, please, that's the majesty of having your own place, right?" Ruby was about to counter and continue with a familiar lie, but stopped herself, realizing what was happening. "You _do_ live here alone, right?"

"I mean… I think you know the answer to that." Finally, the cat was out of the bag… No pun intended. Ruby nodded towards the couch, gesturing for her guest to have a seat. It was about time that they had a much-needed talk. It was just passed eleven now and they had hours before they could leave for Yang's. "You knew since you first moved in, haven't you?"

"It's very easy." Blake admitted, sitting on the far side of the couch, nearest to the window. Ruby had yet to join, standing just beside the furniture and clasping her hands together, biting her lower lip in worry of a beratement, but was pleased to hear only another explanation. "When you live next to someone and hear, let alone see, no other sign of life, most people would come to that conclusion too."

"I see." Ruby nodded, "Would you like anything to drink? I've got some milk, water… That's it, really."

Blake chuckled and nodded, closing her eyes as she did so. "Some water will be fine, thanks." Ruby nodded and walked out of sight into the kitchen, where she could hear a glass being pulled down and water running, a long silence drawing over during the retrieval. This apartment was very… Quaint. There really wasn't much in it, which made Blake wonder just what went on here. If she was employed the shouldn't she have some sort of income to expend on herself? She didn't have her thoughts to herself for long as Ruby returned, handing over a single glass of clear water, filled just over three-quarters of the way. "Thank you." Blake said, taking the glass as Ruby sat down on the edge of the couch, "So… How long?"

Silver eyes blinked before perking up at the question, their owner stuttering to speak at first. "H-how long what? Since I've been here? How long has it been?" The disguised faunus nodded slowly, leaning back into the couch that felt as though it was a bed. It was brown with a maple-frame. The red-themed hostess took a deep breath before exhaling sharply, "Well, I've been here for just over three years, now."

"And how did all _this_ happen? How did a fifteen-year-old afford to handle this on her own?"

"Well… It's… Not what it looks like." Ruby dejectedly replied, peaking Blake's interests. "See, it goes all the way back to when I left Salem's… I managed to snag a peek at my file and wrote down some vital information about my dad. It didn't have a name, but it did have an address."

"Oh?"

"Oh, is right. It was a small house on the other side of town on the edge of the residential district nearest to the docks. When I got there, I found a 'For Sale' sign… He was long gone and since I didn't have a name-"

"-There was no way to look him up."

"Right. I… Spent some time-" She swallowed hard, the memories of those days returning to her before nodding out the window, "-out there, on the streets." Amber eyes went wide, their owner caught in stunned silence as the speaker continued, "I was there for about two, maybe three months. I met a couple of other homeless people, and it turns out that they look after each other. One of them specifically kept me fed and warm, she even taught me how to pick locks! I also learned how to defend myself from those people, in case I ever got jumped. Believe it or not a twelve-year-old kid is prime targets for… Some people.

One day there was a storm and I got lost from my group. I was wandering the city, lost and hungry, until I came across an alley. In that alley was nothing more than trash, darkness and closed doors, except for one, which was barely centimeters away from being clicked shut. I took a chance, walked inside and found a reception area with nobody around. A door to my left said 'Employees Only' and I thought it was a lounge or something, so I used my newly acquired skills and broke in… Turns out it was an apartment."

"Neo's apartment."

"Yeah." Ruby nodded in affirmation. "Nobody was home yet so I took my chance and took some food and, well, as if on que, Neo walked in and caught me red handed."

"Oh, my god…"

Again, Ruby nodded, only this time not as solemnly. This time, it was with a light chuckle and a small smile. "We fought, she won, I was at her mercy, to be short about it. But, she _was_ merciful. I woke up, clothes still soaked from the rain and handcuffed to a bar in their bath tub. She said I was so dirty that the tub was the only place I belonged." Ruby giggled at the memory, but shook her head after a moment whilst her guest stayed silent. "I had to tell her everything before she uncuffed me. She took a chance on me, let me shower, fed me and let me rest for a night on their couch. The next morning, she and I had a talk and she let me stay with them. After a few weeks, I was working as her assistant and they agreed to give me this apartment, and that same August I was enrolled in school. I finished elementary, then went to Signal Middle School before my grades were discovered."

"By whom?"

"By Beacon." There was a hopeful gleam in the teen's eye, one that Blake had seen before, which caused her to smile. "I was accepted into the academy at the age of fourteen and they even bumped me up two grades. I swear, I was nervous enough just having been accepted but I was scared stiff when I was told I was a sophomore!" Ruby began to laugh, gradually getting loud as she remembered that first day at school. "Oh man, it was so bad, Blake. Honestly, you'd be disappointed in me."

"Oh, no, Ru, never." Blake responded to an astonished surprise to Ruby, who glanced over towards her guest as the sun's illumination went away behind a grey cloud. "I mean, after all that you had accomplished to lead up to that point, I don't think I could be disappointed or upset. Actually, I'm impressed… I'm amazed… You managed to keep yourself alive and healthy and managed to get a roof over your head in the process."

"Really? You… You mean it?"

The faunus leaned in, scooting over one spot and sitting beside her brunette hostess, taking her hand in the process and gripping it firmly with a smile. "You survived so much and managed to accomplish the impossible. You took initiative, you stepped up and even though you didn't reach your goal you didn't stop. You didn't stop moving and refused to give in and now look at you! Attending the best college-prep academy in the world and sustaining yourself with a job at the same time! And you're not even an adult yet!" Ruby smiled and turned away, blushing at the compliment she received, but before she could respond, she was pulled into another embrace, just like the one from yesterday. Silver eyes blinked twice in surprise, before closing as their owner accepted the hug, though she couldn't help but hear something from within Blake's chest.

It wasn't her heartbeat… No, it was a low growl… No, wait, that's no growl!

Ruby giggled quietly, causing Blake to crack an eye open with mild concern. "Blake, you, uh… You know you're purring, right?"

"Just let it happen." The faunus curtly replied. "I don't know where you'd get the idea that I'd be disappointed."

"It's just one of those things that you had to see it, I think."

"Ah." Amber eyes cracked open yet again, examining the apartment illuminated by the return of the natural light of the sun. She had just a few more questions to ask before she passed the baton, specifically about a certain blonde nurse-in-training. "Ruby?"

"Yeah?"

"Just who is Yang to you?"

"Haven't I answered that before?"

Blake shook her head with a sigh, "That was when you were lying to me… Which, follow up, why lie? What's the point?"

"Oh, well…" Tapping her index fingers together, the young hostess pondered the question before escaping the hug, carefully leaning back away from her long-time friend. "See, what I said about Yang before wasn't a lie. She's someone who cares about me very much and honestly puts up with more of my crap than anyone. She's like the sister I never had, you know?"

"Okay, well that answers one question." Blake easily chided, "But if she cares so much, why do you have to lie to her and the others? What's so bad with telling them all of this?"

Dejectedly, Ruby's shoulders dropped and she exhaled sharply, "It's just… I don't want them to worry, you know?" Blake raised an eyebrow, gesturing with her hand for her friend to continue, "If they knew I lived alone I'd never get them off my back! The last thing I want is them checking in on me every day like Velvet used to do. I've never even invited anyone in the group to my apartment."

Glancing around them room, Blake nodded with a smirk, "I can understand why."

"Honestly, I love them all, it's just… Ah, how do I say it?"

"You want more space?"

"Sure, yeah that's good enough." The raven-haired teen shook her head with a familiar, soft smile, though Ruby ignored it. She answered the questions and had nothing more to add, but she herself had questions for the would-be runaway before her. "Anything else?"

"How much do they know?"

"About?"

"You. Your past, where you came from?"

"They know I came from Patch, and that's it… I'm… Still having troubles talking about… That day, you know?"

"The fire?"

Ruby nodded, solemnly, "Yeah, the fire." A long-standing silence fell over the duo, both unable to speak for a while. Ruby's home was the one thing she had the most trouble getting over as a kid, having lost everything in a half. Growing up, both Blake and Velvet wished that they could do so much more for their friend rather than comfort her after every nightmare, but there was nothing more than be the shoulder to cry on. Blake wondered if the girl before her had gotten over it at some point? "I won't even tell them why I don't go swimming with them for gym class, which will probably come up tonight. Pyrrha likes to press that, a lot, you know?"

"Don't think I do, no."

Ruby smirked and held up a hand, turning her gaze to the glass of water that had remained untouched during the discussion. "Never mind, I'm sure you'll find out." Silver eyes turned back and locked firmly onto amber orbs, the owner of the former taking a deep breath, "Anything else?" Blake slowly shook her head, satisfied with the information, especially now that it came from the horse's mouth rather than the bunny's. "Good, now it's your turn."

"Oh, fun." Blake clapped before rubbing her hands together quickly, stopping when she saw four fingers flash in her face: An index, middle, ring and pinky finger mere inches from her own nose, causing her to stop dead in her tracks and admire a smirk on her hostess' face.

"Four questions:" Ruby firmly began, balling her hand into a fist, save for her index finger, "Why did you leave?" The middle finger joined, indicating question two, "Where did you go or who were you looking for?" The ring finger jumped in now for question three, "What happened in the time that you were gone?" Finally, the fourth finger jumped up, signaling the final question, "Why are you back? Not saying that I'm not glad that you're back or anything, but… It seems kind of odd that you live right next to me."

Nodding firmly, the disguised faunus raised an eyebrow and sat back on the couch, getting comfortable, "So, to answer the last question first… That was honestly luck of the draw. It was _so_ unintended and I can't even fathom the odds of this happening. Seriously, it's just… Wow. Who would have thought that the two of us- runaways from a damn foster home- would be defying fate so well, huh?"

"Yeah… It _is_ ironic, isn't it."

"I'll say. Now, I'll go in order, because they'll all flow in with each other like that." Ruby nodded, sitting back on her spot, though more of a cockeyed angle, her right arm being used as a pillow and her eyes stayed locked on her friend, intently listening to the story like she never could in school. Blake herself leaned back into the smooth cushion, interlocking her hands and placing them on her lap. "Do you remember why I was at the home?"

Ruby shook her head slowly, "All I know is that your parents put you there on purpose. I also know that you left to go find them, because one of them were on the island."

Raven-colored hair hung in front of Blake's face, causing her to move it back behind her ears with one hand as she continued. "You almost had it. See, my dad was an ambassador to the Global Council for Menagerie. However, in time he saw something coming, a storm on the horizon he said. He was afraid that we were all in danger. Well, his worries came true one day and we all had to scatter and disappear. My mother put me in the home and said she would come back for me when it was all safe.

She never left the island, only going to Vale when absolutely necessary. When I left, it was because I couldn't take it there. I knew where my mom's address was and went to find her… I had better luck than you did, no offense."

"None taken." Ruby smirked, "I'm happy for your luck. Where was you dad in all of this?"

"Home. Working under an assumed name, one that we all had. My mom moved us to a secondary location, another safe-house in Vale that the government gave us to hide out in. We didn't know what was going on back home, but it had something to do with the White Fang. What do you know about them?"

"Probably not as much as I should."

With a small chuckle, Blake smiled and shot a caring glance to the young hostess beside her before taking a drink. "One of these days I'll give you a lesson that not even Beacon could give."

"What happened next?"

The faunus shrugged, "It's mostly a blur. I left when I was eleven, when I was twelve my dad came back for us. We went back to Menagerie, cleared our name and now the world is against the White Fang. The group had tried a coup d'état to take control of the government and went as far as committing assassinations of certain political parties that wouldn't play ball. My dad was one of those people but got us all out alive. Now, he's retired and living on the other side of the country and using the restitution that Menagerie gave us, along with his pension, to pay for me to be here."

"Wow… Quite the exciting life you had."

"Thank you." Blake blushed, meekly. "Though, I wonder if it would have been safe to have lived out at Salem's for the time I needed to. I put both myself and my mom in danger."

"But at least you found her." The red-themed teen reasoned, "That's more than I could say." Amber eyes shot a confused look her way, their owner surprised by the sudden comment, causing her to raise a hand defensively. "It's okay, honest."

Unsure of what to make of the comment, Blake simply shook her head, shrugging it off to the best of her abilities. She remembered, for a time, that Ruby wasn't even able to make a comment about her family without breaking down, and even remembered the argument that Pyrrha and Nora had earlier in the week about when the athletic teen insulted Ruby's family, causing her to break down then. Was she really over it or is it a hit-or-miss type deal? Curious.

"Yeah, well, that's basically it. I'm back for an educational experience… According to my dad."

"If you're in the clear, why the disguise?" The hostess honestly inquired, realizing just one more question. But, follow-ups were always allowed.

Blake nodded and happily responded with the truth. "See… Just because we're in the clear, doesn't mean that the extremists aren't out there. And believe it or not, it does work. They don't expect me to be in Vale, as far as they know we're on Menagerie still, so." She shrugged, "For now it's just a precaution.

"Very nice. I'm happy for you!" Ruby happily complimented with a smile, "You got the happy ending you deserved!"

"Oh, please, we aren't anywhere near a happy ending." Blake giggled, "I better not be having an ending at least, but you can never tell with stories like ours."

Ruby stood up and stretched her muscles, squeaking lightly as a few of her bones popped under the pressure, "I say take what we can." She invited her guest to her feet as well, offering a helping hand off of the oddly comfortable furniture, which Blake accepted. Though the couch was in a vertical L shape, it was leaning back a few degrees which made leaving it impossible. Ruby noticed the glance of the amber eyes and chuckled.

"I've never seen a couch like that before, Ruby… Where did you guys find it?"

With a smirk, the young teen quietly gestured for her friend to vacate the area. Once Blake did as she was told, Ruby slid the coffee table away and pulled the couch out before flattening it all at once, creating a queen-sized bed in the empty space. "Ta-da!"

"Oh, wow."

"Just in case I have guests… Which never really happened. Velvet and Coco never stayed past eleven, even during the summer."

Before Blake could inquire further, an audible growl was heard by both parties, the youngest biting her lips and blushing at the sound of her own stomach betraying her. She looked away and gripped her belly in embarrassment, completely forgetting that she had forgone breakfast for this. Honestly, though, this and sleep over food almost any day. The embarrassment only became worse when Blake began to giggle, covering her mouth as she did so and giving Ruby an odd sense of Déjà vu.

And apparently, Blake felt the same. "Well, that brings back some memories." Ruby's blush deepened, her face now as red as her bangs, hugging herself as she tried to keep a lack of eye contact. How could she let something like this slip? _'What could you have done to have prevented it? Last I checked, we were running on empty, here.'_

 _'Gah! Brain, shut up! I don't need hindsight right now!'_

"Th-that was embarrassing…" Ruby stuttered out, rubbing the back of her head.

"Oh, it's not that bad." Blake easily waved her concern off. "Being hungry isn't anything to be ashamed of, especially when you sleep through breakfast." Again, Ruby's blush deepened; she hated sleeping in, unless absolutely necessary. Today, it wasn't. "How about this? It's…" The guest checked her scroll for the time, "It's almost noon. How about we pack up and go get something to eat? Then we'll head right to Yang's."

Oddly enough, she faced reluctance at first by her neighbor, who obviously wasn't thinking for some reason or another. Was she really this embarrassed about being a little hungry? "U-uh… Okay, sure. That'll work."

With a nod, the faunus turned on her heel and began to walk to the door, seeing herself out "And if I recall, I owe you a meal for completing the bet."

"Woah, hey, no!"

"I'll be right back with my stuff."

"Blake!" Before she could protest, her friend was gone and out the door, an audible thud being hear behind her. "Ah! Crap!" If there was one thing she hated, it was being given handouts. She's tried her hardest to make a person of herself, to being better than this and not needing help. To being independent, even though she pretty much relied on Neo and Junior for everything she currently has. Last thing she wants is her friends sacrificing over her.

She meandered into her room and glanced at her backpack, coming to a stunning realization… "Oh… I haven't packed for tomorrow… Double crap." Now, she was in a bind. No spare clothes, but she did have a pair of pajamas that could last all through the night, and these clothes that she was currently wearing would certainly suffice for the morning if she packed them away properly. Still, she had an extra pair of unmentionables, which those should probably be packed, too. Socks, also. What else?

She unpacked her school supplies and began to fold her pajamas that were strewn across the floor. Maybe Neo was right, maybe she did have to keep her room a _little_ bit more tidy. Especially with Blake next door, she'll probably be over quite a bit. Velvet and Coco didn't care (hell, their room was ten times worse) and this was actually a good way to keep them out of her personal area, while Neo had gotten used to it over the years. In fact, Neo was the one who had bought Ruby all of the clothes the teen currently had, so it wasn't like there was a surprise in store for her or anything. Maybe, she stayed out to give her assistant a little more privacy… Ruby shook the thought away and concerned herself with the task at hand. She had only seconds until Blake arrived and should be packed and ready to go…

Oh, who was she kidding? Like Blake of all people will be mad?

Her PJ's packed, she turned to the second drawer out of three on the left side of her dresser that only came up to her hips, finding her last pair of both socks and undergarments. "Man, I really dropped the ball, here." She chided herself. She didn't do laundry that long ago, what the heck happened? "Tomorrow, regardless of how tired I am." She promised herself, shoving the lace down to the bottom of her bag and throwing the shin-high socks on her bed, as she would need them for right now. Once she got to Yang's though, no way.

Just as she packed away the last of her clothes and began pondering what else, if anything, to take, her door once again opened and a familiar voice chimed in. "I'm back."

"I can tell." Ruby shot back with a small smile, though Blake wasn't there to see it. The returning guest meandered her way to the door of her friends' bedroom admiring the dark that was only illuminated by the greying skies outside of her large window across the room. "Give me two minutes to figure out what else I need and we can go."

"Take your time, sheesh. We've got more than enough time… Unless you're really that hungry, of course." The sudden comment forced a blush to the cheeks of the young tenant, who stopped in her tracks and glared daggers into the soul of the faunus, who shrugged and fixed the bag around her own shoulders so that it was more comfortable to carry. "Alright, fine. Be that way."

"I will." Ruby curtly replied, pocketing her phone and pulling the charger out of the wall near her nightstand, tossing it into the bag on the edge of her bed. "On our way to… Wherever we're going to eat, I should call Yang and tell her that we're on our way. Or that we'll be there soon, at least."

"Whatever works." Blake nodded easily, folding her arms across her chest and leaning against the door frame. "One more question, though, that bit you told me last week about your phone?"

"All true." Ruby interrupted, "I really don't have a need for any other phone. Nobody texts me or anything enough to warrant it. Oh well." She sat alongside her bed and slipped her socks on under the gaze of her neighbor, who patiently waited. While she did so, another growl emanated from her stomach, but luckily this one wasn't as loud as the last. Still, though, Blake was a faunus, so she definitely caught it.

"We'll get something in ya, don't worry."

Her socks on, Ruby sighed and slipped on her shoes, tying them one at a time, right first then left. "Never said I was worried, Blake."

"Never said you were hungry, either, but…"

"Okay! Okay! I get it!" She playfully yelled, grabbing her bag as she put her fee to the floor. "Are you ready? Do you have everything?"

"I should be asking you that, after all you're the one who just got packed." Ruby shot a blank gaze at the faunus, who rolled her eyes. "Yes, Ruby, I have everything. You ready?" She nodded happily, gripping both straps of her bag, "Good. Let's get going, then."

* * *

Yang walked into her kitchen, the tile floor chilling her bare feet, dressed in 'comfies' as she put them, which was just loose fitting sweatpants and sweatshirt. Honestly, she could be going to work out right now. Her pants were a solid gold with a black strip running along the outside of each legs, while her shirt was a short-sleeved grey with a black half-circle running through the chest. It cut itself short so that Yang could show off her midriff. She pocketed her phone and looked towards the table where a man sat with a newspaper and a coffee. "So, uh, I guess Ruby and Blake are on their way." She said. The man nodded as he peeked over the paper at the blonde, "I'm not sure if you really care or not."

"Yang, if I cared, I'd leave." The man said, standing up, "Besides, I kinda want to meet some of your friends. You talk so highly of them."

Yang opened their fridge and peeked inside, "Oh, you'd love Ruby. We just met Blake, though, so I'm still on the fence about her." She pulled out a can of soda and opened it, "Still, you'd like them."

"It's been a while since I've seen Nora and Pyrrha, too."

"Daddy, it's only been two months."

"Yeah, that's a while." Taiyang defended. He was a man of average build, boasting a tattoo on his right arm, but most of it was hidden by his sleeves. He was tan with short, blonde hair and a faint beard that was more of morning shadow, but Tai never shaved it off completely. He liked the lighter beard and mustache style too much. "Doesn't really matter, I don't need to leave until about seven." He took a sip from his glass mug on the table, setting down his newspaper, "So, what are you all planning on doing tonight?"

"Wouldn't _you_ like to know?" Yang teased, playfully, leaning into the table, "We're going to play some games. Pretty much staying downstairs for the night."

"Fun."

"Always, that's why we do it." She planted a kiss on her father's cheek as he walked past and she walked into the family room. "Knowing the way Ruby eats, we should have some time before they get here."

"She's one to enjoy her meal, huh?" Tai called, refilling his coffee.

"Hardly. She just eats slowly all the time, even at school! I gotta nudge her every now and again to get her to hurry up, we only a half hour to eat."

"Which is really more than enough?"

"Clearly not for her." Yang quipped as she jumped down onto the couch, pulling her scroll back out and browsing the web. All the while, her father pondered something aloud.

"Curious as to why you care so much about someone you barely know."

"Hey, just because you don't know her doesn't mean that I don't."

"Oh yeah?" He challenged, "Okay, so tell me about her?"

"Why don't you ask her yourself when she gets here? You'll have enough time to!"

"Ah, you would be good at politics! All you're doing is shrugging off the question because you don't know the answer! Well I'm not falling for it, miss I-don't-know-about-my-friends!"

"I take offense!"

"I don't care!"

Yang gasped in mock horror at her father's words, crashing backwards into the three-seated, leather furniture. "My own dad doesn't care about me!" She wailed, covering her eyes as she cried false tears, all the while Tai cracked the newsprint in hand and went back to reading.

"Nope, you're totally right. All I did was pay for you to go to Beacon and get you a job with the potential to move up and learn like this was an internship. But no, you're right, daddy doesn't care. Oh, _and_ a parking space at the hospital."

"Oh, geez, such dry humor." He sipped his coffee again, resisting the urge to crack a smile, all the while is daughter continued, "And I would be really careful with the 'getting to know you' stuff around Ruby. She can be very… Brief, sometimes." The blonde man gave a thumbs up from the kitchen, not bothering to inquire why. Some people just weren't talkers, and he understood that. You can understand a lot about various individuals while working in a hospital.

A few minutes passed in not-so-odd silence, Yang browsing the web and her dad browsing the paper. She would have turned on the TV, but with guests on the way saw no reason to. Usually, her and her dad would work together on the weekends, working night-shift at the hospital where Taiyang worked as a pediatrician, and Yang would be at reception. Though, more recently they've been permitting her to work with other nurses to get a better feel for a hospital and how it works, which will help her with her desired major.

Out of the silence and turning a page, Taiyang finally spoke up, bringing some form of life to his own abode. "So, what does Ruby and Blake want to do after Beacon?"

"I'd assume college?"

"Be more specific?"

"Why the interest?"

The man shrugged easily, "If I take interest with a few of your close friends, I gotta do it with them all."

Yang smiled and shook her head, closing her scroll but leaving it on her belly. "I haven't really talked about it with Blake, but Ruby is in the Engineering department of Beacon, so… Something related to that."

"Ah, building the future, I see."

"Don't get cheesy on her, please. She may be young, but that's just wrong."

"Oh, wah-wah." He taunted, making a fake crying noise. "My house, my rules."

"My _friends_ , my rules."

"Oh, the Xiao Long sass comes back with a vengeance. Good to know I passed down more than my amazing hair and good looks and quick wit."

Popping her head above the couch, Yang raised an eyebrow and blinked at her dad incredulously, "May be taking a lot of credit for that…"

"Well, I'm the only one present to _take_ credit, now, aren't I?"

"Woah." Her scroll beeped twice with high-pitched dings, indicating a text. Glancing at her device, Yang read the quick text from her friend that said _'Almost there'_.

Yang picked up her light coat, which was hanging off of the back of the couch, and threw it on. "I'm gonna head out and wait for them, show Blake where to park. Remember, Ruby is the shorter one." Tai held up his hands, saying she didn't have to worry. Yang, however, didn't believe her father one bit, but still walked outside.

Yang and her father lived modestly, despite Tai's occupation. Their house was very well kept; a garage on the side easily housing two cars with a very long driveway leading up to it. Next to the garage was a walkway to the front of the house, which went relatively unused. Inside the garage was a side-door which led to the inside of the house. From there, there were two doors on the left and a hallway on the right.

The first door on the left led to the basement of the house. The second door was the restroom. The hall to the right led to the laundry room. That same hallway had a long coat rack along the span.

Once inside the house, there were two places to go. Going straight would take one to the Family room. Two leather couches forming an 'L' shape sat in the room, right in front of the TV, which was a flat-screen, fifty-inch screen hanging off the wall. Below that sat a small, yet very long table.

Go to the right after entering the home, and you get the kitchen. The only thing separating both rooms was a small divider wall, leaving two decorative gaps on either side; one to the actual kitchen, one to the dining area. In said dining area was the door to the backyard, a small fenced in area with an in-ground pool and enough space for a fairly large, concrete patio for a cookout, which were held often at the Xiao Long residents.

Past the Family room was another hall with four rooms. The first one to the right was Yang's room. Straight ahead was another, bigger bathroom that was big enough for a tub, not just a shower. To the left and down the straight-away was Tai's room, and hidden in the wall to the left of the straight-away was a guest bedroom. Tai constantly thought about changing the guest room into his personal office, but would always think against it.

Yang walked out of the garage and into the driveway, a rush of cool October wind blew right through her coat. She cursed as she shivered, being caught off guard by the unusual cool of the afternoon.

She stood patiently below a broken basketball hoop, the backboard damaged after years of wear and tear. Also, the elements didn't help much. She didn't have to wait long, however, as a black, beat up car rolled down the street and carefully pulled into the driveway. Yang could easily make out both Blake's and Ruby's faces through the windshield from her position and smiled, waving at her friends. Once the vehicle switched gears, Ruby jumped out, keeping her eyes locked on the blonde before her, "Blake wants to know if she's good here?" She called, knowing that Tai would be leaving for work that night. Blake had parked as far to the right of the driveway as possible, leaving enough room for a car beside her, but also for a car to exit the dual-car garage.

"Yeah, you're not blocking anyone." Yang assured, "Daddy has enough room to work." With the confirmation given, Blake turned off the car and jumped out. Ruby had already collected her things and was now making her way towards the blonde. "How was lunch?"

Ruby happily nodded with a smile as Blake stepped out of the car, "It was very nice. We stopped at a diner in Downtown that Blake knew about and we had a nice, quick lunch."

"Very nice. Not that it's any of business or anything, but... I just didn't expect you to be here so early?"

"It's barely one, though?" The short-haired teen inquired with confusion, checking her older phone and finding that it wasn't even five-to-one.

"Yeah, _and_ we aren't expecting Pyrrha and Nora until, like, four!"

" _Oh, no! It's three hours_!"

"Oh, _ha-ha_ , sassy." Yang fired back, kicked Ruby's calves with her slipper-ed feet. "Just get in the house. Keep up that tone and it's going to be a _long_ night."

Blake stood by in silence, watching with a smirk as the duo playfully fought amongst themselves. The youngest raised an eyebrow as she turned on a heel to face her taller hostess, "I thought you _liked_ Sassy-Ruby?" She inquired with a cutesy smirk that made Yang proud.

"Did I _sound_ sarcastic? I think not!"

Ruby shook her head and walked in first, leaving the door open so that her friend and neighbor could follow. Inside the garage was two cars and Yang's yellow and black painted motorcycle. The cover was yet to be on the bike, indicating that she had full intentions of driving it again before winter hit.

Once inside, Yang instantly opened the basement door and pointed. "Throw 'em down, girls!" She declared. Ruby complied while Blake opted to walk her belongings down. Why take the risk, something could break? Once she was back up, Yang walked into the kitchen., giving a mini-tour for Blake. "This is the kitchen, anything you want in the fridge is yours, just let me know what you're having. Snacks are mostly downstairs, and over on the table is my dad." Taiyang waved as he looked up from his newspaper. "Dad, this is Blake..." Yang pointed to her bow-wearing friend, who bowed in greetings. "And Ruby." She pointed to her other side towards the youngest of the group.

Tai examined both of the girls closely, first admiring the black-themed young woman he now knew as Blake. Amber eyes with a black bow atop her head, black hair to go along with it and a pale complexion. She stood by and bowed her head respectfully, her stance tall and proper: Back straight, chest out. She was from a dignified family, that much was apparent. She was dressed in skin-tight black clothes that honestly, if it weren't for the color, the man would assume that it was from his daughter's closet.

He nodded to Blake and then turned his eyes to Ruby, examining her. He had been in the same building as the girl but was asleep by the time she left, feeling bad about it, too. This was the girl that Yang spent so much time worrying about? Shorter in stature, but only due to youth with short brunette hair, the tips of her bangs tinted with red. She was standing straight, but not like the teen beside her, giving him the impression that her family was more laid back and easy going. She had a red jacket to go with Beacon's Alternate Uniform that clashed with her even paler complexion. The thing that spoke out to him, however, were her silver eyes. She looked... Familiar... He knew that face.

Still, he shook the thought and nodded again with a smile, giving Ruby the same treatment that he did Blake. "Nice to meet you two." He said. Both girls returned the greet with a nod, Ruby staying quiet as she noticed the man's facial structure. She had never met Taiyang before but now for some reason felt like she had known him for an eternity. Hm, maybe it was through association with Yang?

"Now!" The aforementioned blonde clapped, "With that out of the way, let's all grab a drink of choice and head downstairs! We can get an early start on games before Pyrrha and Nora get here."

All present proceeded to raid the fridge; Blake taking an _'Everybody likes Grapes'_ can, while Ruby opted for the Strawberry flavored drink (Yang knew how to prepare for a party) and followed their blonde hostess to the depths of the house, the man with the paper in hand chuckling at the sight. ' _Ah, youth,'_ He thought, begrudgingly. He hated admitting her was old… Young enough to kick ass, but not as young as he wanted. "Have fun girls." He called as they finally found their way to the basement.

* * *

 **Well… Shiet. A lot to digest.**

 **So Ruby and Blake finally got to their discussion, and boy was it needed. Salem gets a name drop and Taiyang makes a meaningful appearance for once, enough that he actually got a description! Hey, he's moving up in the world! We also got to see just who Neo is to Ruby, but we'll get a more in-depth look to that soon. Very soon.**

 **More things happened that are so important to the story, I'm not going to tell them, just in case you skimmed and waited for my TL;DR (Too Long; Didn't Read). I want you to tell me something you noticed, give me your thoughts on how important you think it is. Actually, just go ahead and review the chapter as a whole. If I'm doing something wrong or right, I'd like to know. I'm trying to get better at this writing thing, because in time (really whenever this story ends) I'm going to write a book of my own. I'd like you guys to be my critics and help me get better before I get there, if you don't mind. Thanks in advanced, your help is graciously accepted and appreciated.**

 **Now that all of my begging is out of the way, next chapter has been… Partly made. It was actually one of many pieces and chapters that were created long before I got the nerve to post the first chapter, so there's a good 1/3 of it that's usable. Other than that, I'm making the whole thing and will be posting it all at once and it will take at least two parts to properly make, unless you can handle another 15k long story? Let me know. As always, thanks for your support, and I'll hopefully see you all soon.**

 **Until Next Time**


	17. A Night at Yang's pt 1: The fun begins

**Phew, so, yeah. This story was a bigger bitch to write. And, you know what, it's still not done. This is only the first of three parts, and the next two are even busier with a lot more going on. It is a lot of fun being had and it is also important to the story, so...**

 **I am still working on the next part, though, and most of the third part is done, so, it shouldn't take too much longer. Hopefully by next week I'll have at least one of them ready for you.**

 **Right now, though, we have Yang, Ruby and Blake sitting around, killing time while Pyrrha and Nora dilly-dally. Still, we'll get to see some familiar things. Example: We'll see the Risk game they played in V2, adapted to this story in my own way, also we'll see Remnants version of World of Tanks, shamelessly plugging the game that has siphoned literally ALL of my free time. I figured I gotta give it homage in some way, right?**

 **Later we'll see another classic that some may remember, others may need google it. But that's for next chapter. I'll let you all find out how I used it all, though, so I'll shut up now.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Yang led her guests to the basement of her house, the proclaimed 'Den', as there was nothing down there that both Taiyang and his daughter didn't enjoy doing. She flipped on one switch out of three, illuminating the basement to reveal the Pride of the Xiao Long home.

Once you got to the bottom of the stairs you were met with a soft, deep brown carpeting. If Ruby had to put the color, easily mahogany brown (it was the same color as her table back home). The basement consisted of three sections. One, right in front of the stairs, held a huge flat screen TV with three couches surrounding it in a square form, leaving enough room for a coffee table in the middle. Hooked up to the same TV were multiple gaming stations. Yang never admitted they were hers, but her skills showed otherwise.

To the direct right and around a corner from the stairs were two rooms. One in the far corner was surrounded by windows. Within, however, appeared to be an office space, complete with file cabinets, a desk and a computer along with a bookshelf. This is where Taiyang made his office space, rather than the new Guest Room upstairs. Outside of the office was a workout area; a punching bag, bench press, leg press and a couple sets of dumbbells with a treadmill all along a tile flooring.

"Did you guys finally finish Tai's office?" Ruby inquired. Yang nodded, feigning exhaustion.

"Yeah, what a pain in the ass. Those windows are relatively soundproof. I guess because I make a lot of noise when I work out, but I don't know _what_ he's talking about..." Blake and Ruby giggled as Yang lured them over to the TV. "Come here, I'll how you our pride and joy."

As they approached, the blonde leaned against the center couch, "Ladies, I'd like you to note a cord running from the couch." Ruby and Blake nodded after following her example, "Now, if you will..."

"Is this the presentation part of the event where you show off the new car you'll be selling?" Ruby giggled, making a quip about an auto-show display that Yang would constantly drool over. Wasn't her fault that the newer cars looked so damn cool.

As a response, Yang wrapped her up in a playful headlock, "Just for that, you volunteered to be the guinea pig!" Despite her young friend's cries, Yang still dragged her over to the front of the brown-leather couch. In between the two cushions was a small console panel with two sets of buttons and cup holders, "Now be a good girl and sit!" Yang threw Ruby into the right couch cushion and pressed a button.

What happened next could only be described as euphoric as the chair began to vibrate steadily. "Oh... No way, Yang..." Ruby said as she physically relaxed in her seat, her backside going happily numb to the counterforce that she met. Yang offered the second seat to Blake, who gladly accepted with no resistance or quip.

"Oh my..." The bow-wearing girl exclaimed as she too felt the experience what her neighbor was experiencing. "Yang, this is... Magnificent."

"It gets better. Watch." She pressed what only could be described as the buttons who used to roll down windows and the seats slowly tilted back into a recliner position. "These babies are massage recliners and they were actually really cheap. They matched the other two couches in color _and_ the floor."

"Yang..." Ruby said calmly, "I'll be honest, I'm not sure of anyone who would be able to make matching brown or tan furniture work, especially with the carpet of choice. You and your dad... Well done." She ended her compliment with a small golf clap and sat deeper in the couch.

"Aww, my life is complete now. I've gotten the approval of my fifteen-year-old friend for our furniture choice." Yang joked. Ruby shrugged, clearly still enjoying the massage, so much so that she refused to comment further. "Quick note, that'll go on for ten minutes before stopping automatically, or you can kill it by hitting the buttons on the inward panel. And, despite our best efforts, neither side will go all the way back until we get a stand or something. If we don't then the whole couch flies back, so, unfortunately, we _only_ had two couches to sleep on."

"I'm cool with that." Blake said. An affirming noise from the girl in red next to her marked the agreement. "Yang, just _how_ many games do you have?"

"Enough." The nurse-in-training simply stated, "You'll see later. We'll be playing quite a bit."

"Are we going to do a brawl tournament tonight? Or is it Stadium week?" Ruby inquired with a hint of tiredness, clearly relaxing too much and pressing the offending button to kill the machine beneath her seat, cracking he pop can open and taking a sip of the red drink within. Yang shrugged honestly.

"I was thinking we'd wing it, Ru. After all, we don't know just what Nora and Pyrrha want to do."

"I hope we do Risk again. I need to take Pyrrha down a few."

"Ruby," Yang sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose, "she beat you out of sheer dumb luck last time."

"Precisely why we need to play again!" Ruby argued, "All that day was ' _dumb luck, dumb luck!_ ' but I think not!"

The theatrics from Ruby, although unusual, didn't go unnoticed. Both Yang and Blake got a small kick out of it as the younger teen sat back in her seat. Yang was proud, her friend's outburst showed the progress they were making with her, regardless of how small of progress it was. _'Baby steps.'_ Yang thought.

"Alright, so what do you all want to do while we wait?" The busty blonde inquired, "We have about three hours until the other half of our little group gets here, so we've got time to kill."

Ruby and Blake both turned to each other, the former knowing full well that she kept the contents of today's activities a mystery. For her friend, she'll have to throw out options. "Well…" Ruby pondered aloud, "We can actually kill things. I know you got that new Zombie game that just came out."

" _Rise of the Infinite Dead_." Yang said cryptically, with a playfully creepy tone and a cliché evil laugh at the end.

"Right. We can try that out, or we can kill each other." Blake's eyebrows raised in confusion and concern, soon realizing that the young teen was talking about killing in games. "Or… We can take some time and show off our world."

"Our… World… Oh, yeah! I almost forgot!" The blonde hopped up from her seat and maneuvered towards the system across the room, grabbing a few controllers in the process. Blake was still confused as to what was happening, not exactly being the gaming person. Luckily, though, the banter between a certain brunette and blonde would answer her questions. "I haven't played this since the last time everyone was here, so nothing's changed in the long run."

"Great. I can continue construction of the Big House." Ruby chirped, accepting the controller that was handed her way once the machines had turned on.

Yang handed the bow-wearing teen in before her and beside Ruby, glancing back to the latter, "Didn't we figure out a better name for it?"

"Didn't we also agree that that name will never see the light of day again, you dirty-minded girl?"

"Aw, did my little name embarrass my little sister?"

"Yes! Yes, it did!" Ruby cried with a blush, "It's the big house because it's a freaking castle, and I refuse to call it anything else!"

She huffed and turned her attention back to the still-loading game, ignoring the whispering between her neighbor and hostess. They were discussing the phallic nickname Yang had given the castle, which caused Blake to smile and shake her head at the immature antics of her friends. Only here would that be acceptable… Or maybe online, too. Ruby cracked open her pop and took a swig as the map finally loaded around her character. Being the second player, she got a quarter of the screen on the top right while Yang got an equally-sized corner on the left. Blake's screen was the size of both her friends combined, and she was on the bottom with the most free space.

"Welcome to our Wonder World!"

"Trademarked." Ruby added, glancing her character around the heavily-pixilated world. In her hand was a stone block as she currently sat upon a precarious perch, the memory of her former task coming back to her. She was making a watch tower on both sides of the castle. The Big House, as Ruby preferred to call it, was a fifty-by-forty block castle made of stone blocks that the group pilfered from a stronghold that took hours to find. They didn't have enough to do everything, though, so the stone-bricks went straight to the walls while straight up stone went to the floors and roof.

Yang and Blake's character both loaded in, the latter using a guest account while Ruby used the offline account she made during her first time being at Yang's. Remembering that day fondly as her greatest embarrassment with this group, because she had no idea it was an all-night thing, coming in totally unprepared. Not to mention Neo flipped out later into the night about it, too.

Ruby instantly went back to work on her tower while Yang was on the complete other side of the castle, her "Sun-Dragon Throne" which was just a ton of gold blocks around a lone stair block that was used as a chair. "Let me give you the grand tour, Blake." The blonde began, glancing to her friend's character. Above the throne was class blocks, creating a skylight while all over imbedded in the walls and floor and ceiling, separated by five stone blocks, was glowstone, an alternative lighting source. Honestly, the only reason Blake knew this was because of how popular the game was worldwide, but she never imagined this group to be one's to play it. "This is the throne, high and mighty for me-"

Ruby coughed lightly, in-between her fits, however… "-False Prophet, ahk! Ohmph, oh, man, sorry. That was bad."

" _As I was saying_. Down the corridor and to the left is the Hall of Strength where literally every weapon, armor, every trophy we can pick up is there. There's also an enchantment room, a Nether Portal and an End Portal that we still haven't gone through." She glared daggers at Ruby, the sole reason why they wouldn't go through in the first place. However, the brunette took offense and snapped at the hostess.

"Hey, it's not my fault! You're the one that complains that Pyrrha and Nora should be here to help us!"

"Oh, no! Don't put this on me, miss ' _We just don't have time to do this'_ even though you stayed for _five more hours after the fact_!"

"I resent that comment!"

"I resent your _cowardice_!"

With a dramatic and exuberant gasp, silver eyes went wide with hurt and horror as Blake watched the idle banter between these two, getting an understanding more about what Yang means when she calls Ruby her little sister. They really did fight like siblings. "I _cannot believe_ what I am hearing!"

Ruby took a swig of her pop, realizing that her can was quickly emptied. Somehow, she drank the whole thing in a matter of minutes, despite not being thirsty at all. "If you can't take the truth, get out of the castle, sister!"

"Fine, I will!" She huffed, dropping down the entire ten blocks from her build and to the second story of the castle, making a B-line for the stairs that led to the first floor. She and Yang both held back smiles as they continued in silence, the latter showing the new girl more of the castle. While they discussed the game and how the controls worked, Ruby began to walk towards the door, only to realize a very strange thing happen. As she walked, she heard a click… Turning to her left, she saw string attached to a tripwire trap… "Uh… Oh, um, Yang?"

"Shouldn't you be leaving in a huff, Ru?"

"Yeah, uh… About this trap right here?" As she finished her question, an audible 'sizzz' could be heard, causing both Yang and Ruby's eyes to go wide as they realized something horrible. They may or may not have been duped. "Oh… Cra-"

 _BOOM_

"God damnit!" Yang cried in anger and horror as her precious castle blew up all around her, killing everyone inside. "I knew it! I god damn knew it!"

"Knew what?" Blake asked through confused giggles, unsure of what just happened. On her screen, a picture of an option that inquired 'Respawn' or 'Quit' appeared, confused on how she died already. She barely understood this game as is, and now she gets blown up? Still, though, the defeated chuckles from Yang caused her to laugh too, even though Ruby pinched the bridge of her nose.

"A few days ago, I came online and saw Jaune's account and Pyrrha's account both playing Minecraft. I thought nothing of it, seeing as they both play a lot of games together, but in retrospect, they have access to this particular map so they probably set up that trap."

"They destroyed the monument to our kingdom…" The usually red-themed teen beside the duo dejectedly said with a huff, "Pyrrha's out. Blake, you get her home. It's official."

"Hooray? I wish I knew what I was doing?"

Yang chuckled as Ruby rose from her seat, setting her controller down on the table as she did so. "Luckily for us, autosave is off, so all we have to do is disable the traps beforehand. Other than that, when we reload the game Ruby and I will show you what the meaning of this game is, won't we, Ru?"

"Course." The short teen called from halfway up the stairs, going to get more of her delicious red-drink. She probably wouldn't have to do anything, as Yang does a good enough job of teaching. _'Heck, I wouldn't be where I am now if it wasn't for her.'_ She thought, smiling lightly at her mind's sappy saying. She shook herself back to reality and made it to the top step, turning her body to face the darkened family room. Once there, she made a hard right and found her way into the kitchen where Taiyang was up and moving around, finally, refilling his coffee. The man turned and faced the teen, who almost jumped in surprise. "Oh, hi, Mr. Xiao Long!"

"Hey, uh, Ruby? Right?" She smiled and nodded, standing in the opening awkwardly. "Great, I knew I wasn't bad at names. What brings you out of the Dragon's Den?"

 _'That's a cool name…'_ – "Oh, uh, I was just getting another drink." The man nodded, easily, which she took as an okay to get what she came for. Still, she felt that he had more to say, and as she dug through the fridge (mainly, the lone box that contained her prize) her suspicions were made to realization.

Taiyang turned and leaned back into the counter as Ruby stood tall again, can in hand. "Found it, eh?"

"Yeah." Ruby chuckled, brushing her bangs out of her face. She noticed that the man before her seemed to admire her face, just like earlier. What was he staring for?

"Hey," He called, bringing her to attention, "How long have you been friends with Yang?"

"Oh, about a year or so. A bit longer than that, now, I think."

"And this is our first time meeting, huh? Hm, I'm normally better than that about meeting my daughter's friends."

Ruby sweetly waved him off with a light blush, shaking her head at his response. "Oh-ho, it's okay! Stuff happens and we can't help it."

"That's the right attitude to have in life." He said with affirmation with a nod, before turning his attention back to the young teen before him. "Say, Ruby… Yang said your last name is Rose?" She nodded in confusion. What could that be about? "Are you related to a Summer Rose by chance?"

That name… That was her mother's name. Her late mother's name… How did he know mom? There were a few ways she could play this off, but mainly she had to be cool, even though deep down her heart began to race a mile a minute. "Oh, uh, yeah! I do! Summer's my mom."

"Oh, really? Wow, I didn't know she had it in her." He said with a grin, taking another drink out of his mug as his young guest tried to decipher just what that meant. "Sorry, I should explain, Summer and I were classmates at Beacon's medical wing. We graduated together!"

"O-oh! Really?" The man's smile stayed consistent as he nodded away. She had to make some sort of lie for him, he seemed so happy by the fact that he may have found an old friend… She didn't want to kill his mood. "Y-you know? I… Think she may have told me about you." She said in deep thought, "She always talked about a hard-working young man…"

"Oh, then it couldn't have been me." He said, shaking his head, "I was an arrogant ass that bugged the crap out of her all day. She was friends with my girlfriend at the time." Ruby blushed at this fact. Just how far did this network of friends go? Who else could she find that may be able to help? If Taiyang knew Summer, then maybe both he and Yang could be as trusted as Blake and Velvet. "How's your mom doing?"

"Very well." Ruby lied with a seemingly happy nod. "For what it's worth. Our schedules are a little whacky so we don't see each other _as much_ , but… You know how it goes."

He nodded, setting down his cup and folding his arms, "Yeah, I'm lucky to have the relationship I have with Yang. My profession can really strain social and even personal lives."

"She's very proud of you, ya know. Yang is, I mean."

Again, he nodded, breaking eye contact and glancing at the stairs in thought, "Yeah, I bet she is. Still, she can't beat me in the pride department. I look at her and every fiber of my being just screams proud. She grew up to be an amazing young woman."

' _I'll say…_ '

"Whoop, look at me ramble on." He chuckled awkwardly, "I'll let you go back to your fun, sorry to drone on like that."

"Oh, it's no big deal." She laughed, waving him off, "I do it all the time!"

"Oh! One more thing! Uh, if it's not too much trouble-" He said one last time before the red-themed teen left ear shot, "When you see your mom next, could you tell her I said hi? For an old friend?"

Silver eyes turned soft as their owner felt a sense of guilt and misery wash over her, having continued this lie for the worse, it seems… Tai didn't deserve that… Neither does Yang, really. "Sure thing, Mr. Xiao Long."

"Cut that out. In my house, it's Taiyang, at the office it's Doctor."

She smiled at the sense of homeliness she felt around her, the air growing lighter and lighter, a feeling of a great weight being lifted off her shoulders, almost. Ruby nodded slowly, understanding exactly what Taiyang was saying. "Sure thing, Taiyang." He smiled and went back to his paper as Ruby returned to the stairs, can in hand. By the time she made it to the bottom, she found the game reset and Yang showing her neighbor the basics of how to play. Right now, the disguised faunus was in iron armor (compliments of the many chests within the Halls of Victory) while swinging an unenchanted iron sword around. Lilac eyes turned away from the large screen across the room to face a standing Ruby, who watched on intently at her friend's quick progress.

"There you are!" The blonde quipped, "I was starting the wonder just how long a pop run would take."

"Sorry, I got caught up talking to your dad." Ruby honestly retorted with a bright tone, "He really does seem like a nice man."

"Yeah, you'll both love him." Yang confirmed with a smirk and a nod, "He likes to be as involved with my friend's lives as I am, so you'll be getting to know him really well really soon."

"Great." Blake deadpanned, "I have a feeling I'm going to need more mature friends after tonight."

With another crack of the red can, Ruby took a seat at her position that Yang forced her into last time on the couch and sat closer to the edge, picking up her controller while setting the drink in the cup holder to her side. "Something tells me Tai _won't_ be able to fit that part…"

* * *

"Gotta be careful, Yang." Blake warned, "Someone spotted you…"

Lilac eyes intently glared into the screen, her thumb moving the stick on the left side of the controller back and forth, which caused the armored vehicle on the screen to move forward, then suddenly jerk backwards. Along the bottom of the screen in the right-hand corner was a map that showed her current position and nobody others, not even her teammates which was very disconcerting. Along the left-hand corner was a Heads Up Display that evaluated the current status of the vehicle, who or what was damaged and how bad. Beside that HUD was an exclamation point with the warning words of "DETECTED". The game had just started, it was a flat-plain map with a few rocks on both sides of the plain that allowed you to snipe, and for Yang's Tank Destroyer, it was the perfect position. However, the other team didn't thin so…

"I can see that, Blake." The blonde growled in annoyance. It was her idea to play World of Tanks and currently she was rocking a Vale tank; not the best armor, but the biggest cannon. Before she could move anywhere, three salvos flew in from above and two landed beside the vehicle, but one struck home and destroyed her tracks, immobilizing her. "No! Crap, artillery! Really?!" Both Ruby and Blake began to point and yell, trying to get her to move, to no avail.

"Yang! Run!"

"Ruby, how?!"

"Just do it, or else…" All three began to watch as three more salvos flew in, each on striking her dead on and blowing the tank sky high, causing Yang to glare angrily into the screen before deeply sighing, dropping her controller and lying back into the couch. She said nothing while both of her comrades watched on, both terrified of saying anything. Still, someone had to break the silence, and that someone was going to be Ruby. "Uh… Yang?"

"Baby sis…"

"Y-yeah?"

Lilac eyes slowly turned and glared daggers into her soul, a sinister smile on the blonde's face. "Next time you tell me to do something obvious after I've been immobilized, your ass is mine." The words were so silent, so eerie that it made Ruby shudder at the thought, and she knew her hostess meant it. After the threat, though, Yang exhaled deeply and leaned forward, taking a drink before saying, "Man, I hate artillery in this game."

Blake was the first to chuckle, covering her moth as she did so, "I can tell. I lasted longer than you and I never even played the game."

"I know! It's so embarrassing!"

"Oh well, my turn, now!" Ruby clapped, catching the controller that was kicked towards her by the blonde. They were doing a round robin game to pass the time, trying to see who would do the best until the 'real challenge' would arrive, but Blake knew exactly who her two friends were cryptically describing. Blake had her turn and used the same Tier Six tank that Yang used to better success, getting five hits and two destroyed with multiple target spots and spotted target hits before being taken down. Her team won. Yang, however, had no hits, no kills, no spots and her team was currently down with four of her teammates dead and none on the other team.

Luckily, though, for Ruby, she didn't have to see this game play out, as Yang had multiple tanks of multiple lines sitting in the garage. She began to navigate the screen with ease, familiarizing herself with the controls, despite the fact that it went against her handedness. Moving one tab over, she found a tank whose line she personally started the last time she was there: A Mystrillian type-heavy tank that was only on Tier Five, but in the end, there was a heavy tank with a really cool design and strong cannon, though the defense wasn't great. Oh well, was Ruby's reasoning. "Let's take this bad boy for a spin!"

As the game loaded in, Yang and Blake began to trash talk, taking bets to see how long their young friend would last. "What do you think, Blake?"

"About this?" The disguised faunus inquired, pointing towards the screen, "Hm, I'll say… Longer than you, but less successful than me. Right in the middle." Ruby smiled with a sinister smirk, taking her drink and finishing it in one go (despite there only being half left) before slamming it down.

"Okay, I can dig that." The nurse in training agreed, "I'll say the same."

Ruby chuckled sweetly, getting comfortable in her side of the massage recliner. She set down the can of Strawberry-flavored pop and with a glance to both of her compatriots, she raised an eyebrow. "Really? Don't think I'm going to do so well?"

Yang smiled before glancing back, having maneuvered herself to now lying on the couch, her legs at full extension and overtaking the rest of the furniture, "Nope."

"Oh, ye of little faith." The game loaded in late and Ruby had only three seconds to prepare. Her tank had the average Armor Piercing or AP rounds, and High-Explosive Anti-Tank rounds, or HEAT, both of which she knew how to use greatly. She switched her ammo to the HEAT and let it load in the three seconds that it took before moving forward and to the right. Her map was a destroyed city with rubble in the streets and buildings with holes in them, ensuring that no amount of cover was safe. She maneuvered her vehicle about one-hundred feet in front of the team's capture point and sat in a small enclosed space of rubble that allowed her head to peak out and peer the surroundings, a large street in front of her and an even larger space to either side. "You girls wanna make this… Interesting?"

"Uh-oh." Blake cooed, "I'd watch it, Yang, she seems cocky."

"Ah, just wait 'till Pyrrha gets here." The blonde waved off, "That'll take care of this arrogant side right quick."

Ruby leaned forward, her eyebrow popping up as three red dots appeared on her map, all moving down the main street. There was a sharp corner filled with rubble so that there was only enough room in a single lane, making it a destructive bottle neck. Ruby was right where she wanted to be, and her team was working it perfectly, forcing the enemy into this lane. "Alright, if you're all so confident that I'll fail," She said, patiently waiting for one to make the fatal mistake as the first take in the convoy began to take damage. Minimal as it was, it was still something. "How about this. I beat your expectations and… Oh, what do I want?"

"A free meal?" Blake inquired, understanding that this would be two on the day. Ruby shook her head, though, implying that she was thinking something else.

"A ride on Bumblebee?"

"Yang, you'd let me _drive_ that thing if I asked nicely enough…" Ruby chided, taking the first shot and taking out over half of the health of the first distracted opponent, destroying him in one go. "Boom. One hit, one kill."

"Uh-oh." Yang said, wide-eyed. "Ruby, I'm out."

Blake agreed, "Yeah, I know where this is headed."

"Aw, you big babies." The youngest chirped, "All talk, both of ya!"

"What we can we say?" The blonde chirped, peering over at her friend, "Old habits die hard?"

"It's something." Blake agreed, watching as Ruby shot off another salvo, piercing the armor of the top of another tank with low health and destroying it in one go. "I don't think she's missed, yet."

"Nah." The concentrating brunette replied, her silver eyes locked onto the screen, waiting as she watched the map on the side, examining to see if she should reposition or not. On her right flank her team was failing, facing a three on five that they were on the lower end of, causing the young teen to worry, slightly. It was still the right side of her box that had the lowest pile of rubble, so she would be exposed should anything happen. Still, the cannon that she had, plus the low reload time would prove to be the game changer for her, in her mind, at least.

Yang watched the screen until a loud alarm went off and a vicious vibration in her pocket scared her out of her skin, forcing her to jump into a sitting position. Pulling the device out of her pocket, the blonde read the words on the screen aloud: "Call from Pyrrha… Oh, they must be here." She answered it and rose from her seat, "Hey, beautiful, you on your way?" Blake turned towards Ruby, who smirked and glanced to her left before shaking her head, silently telling the faunus that this was beyond common for the blonde. "Okay, I'm just sitting here with Ruby and Blake, so I'll meet you out there… What? … No, they've been here since, like, one… Yeah, we're playing tanks, okay? Oh, wah! Cry more!" Both guests smiled as Ruby scored her third kill, but finally missed one shot in the process. "Okay, yeah, I'll see you in a minute." She hung up and pocketed the device before glancing down at her lazy friends, placing her hands on her hips, "Pyrrha just picked up Nora and they'll be here in five minutes."

"Okay." Ruby chirped, still not losing eye contact from her tank as she went mobile, her position compromised by artillery. "You gonna go out to meet them?"

"Uh, yeah? Because I'm the host, dummy."

"Hey! Don't call me that." The teen replied in mock hurt, "I never host anything, so, I don't know what to do in that situation."

Lilac eyes rolled before the owner shook her head, "If you want to get some exercise for once today, when you're done there, Ru, you and Blake can come up with me?"

"But it's cold out there…" The youngest whined.

Blake joined in, matching her friend's tone, "And we just took off our shoes… Like, two hours ago…"

"And we're comfy on your couch."

"And… Are we lazy?"

Ruby thought for a moment before shrugging, "Oh, uh, I think two hours of sitting after the week we had doesn't count."

"Ah, okay, well."

"Geez! You two are hopeless!" The sitting duo high-fived each other as the game finally came to a close, in Ruby's favor. The aforementioned teen dropped her controller on the table and stretched her arm muscles upwards, letting out a quiet sigh as she did so, examining her winnings as Yang departed the basement. Ribbons began to fly on the screen, much like it did for Blake's win.

"Let's see, now…" The faunus said, reading the stats, "Seven hits, four kills, stayed alive, three spotted targets, two critical and you took two hits yourself…"

"Happy you didn't make that bet, huh?"

"Shut up." Blake dragged her shoes over by her feet and slipped them on, Ruby having to get up to find hers, which were all placed alongside the couch against the wall, laid neatly beside each other. Luckily it was within arm's reach of Blake's seat, but the Rose wasn't so lucky. "How long does it usually take to get to this house from Nora's?" The faunus inquired, knowing that Ruby should have the answer.

"Literally five minutes with all green lights."

"Oh, wow, okay." Surprised by the easy retort, Blake honestly considered her next move. The clouds had begun to roll in and have left a haze over the city, bringing with it the ocean breeze. That alone made her want to stay in, as she didn't bring a jacket with her. Then again, the lowest it could be is fifty, which wasn't even that bad, in retrospect. Ruby, however, had her jacket that never seemed to leave her side and at the same time never seemed to show any signs of being too big or too small for her. A deep red zip-up hoodie would be the best way to describe it. "I mean, we don't have to go out there and greet them…"

"No, we don't," Her neighbor agreed, "But, what else will we do?"

"Sit and talk?"

"Oh _please_ , what else do we have to talk about that we haven't already discussed earlier?"

True, but still, Blake agreed when Ruby said they were comfortable. The furniture in the Xiao Long basement was all soft leather, making it nearly impossible to leave. Still, they'd have to, or at least Ruby would make her do it. Once both girls had their shoes on, the ascended the steps and followed their friend's lead out into the garage, only to find it empty with the door to the side cracked, indicating that she had already gone outside. The youngest went first and pulled the door open, revealing a steadily brightening landscape as the sun above broke through the clouds. Yang was leaning alongside the garage door, hands in her pockets and eyes towards the street.

"How long do you think?" Ruby inquired, causing the hostess to shrug.

"Any minute now… Why?"

"Eh, you know… Anxious to get the party started."

"You want revenge, don't you?" She smiled down at her friend, who blushed before breaking eye contact. "Ah, you blushed! Got ya!"

Blake stepped in, walking towards and eventually leaning into the hood of her car, folding her arms in front of her chest as the sun got brighter, "Hey, you said Pyrrha was the one who bombed your house in Minecraft, right?"

"Not our house, the group's castle." Ruby dejectedly sighed, all of her effort gone to waste. As it turned out, Pyrrha and Jaune thought ahead and turned the Autosave feature back on, meaning their trap worked and now the world was a complete loss with the destruction of the castle. There was still so much more to the world, but the main premise was gone, now. There was no other point. Yang balled her hands into a fist, recalling that fateful discovery just three hours ago. She was so annoyed she refused to teach Blake how to play the game, breaking her promise and forcing the group into a new game.

"Yeah, and after I say my hello's I'm going to thrash her."

"Can I help?" Ruby inquired, causing Yang to turn back in surprise. Usually the youngest would try to end conflicts, not go along with them. The nurse smiled and pulled her 'sister' into a half hug with her left arm.

"Of course, you can!" As she said this, a car could be heard rolling down the block, calling the attention of all three girls. Quickly appearing to their field of view, a light red, older model Mercedes that had a few dents in it, but was otherwise pristine, a lack of spoiler on the trunk offering something to be desired. The insides, from what Blake could tell, was leather, but she's been wrong before. The classic car pulled in, both windows down and the music blaring, getting increasingly louder as they got closer, due to Nora's hand on the dial. "Either turn it down or turn it off!" Yang warned, with a thumb's down, releasing her friend from her grasp, "Quick, before my neighbors get pissed!"

The radio clicked off and the engine died, though the electricity still ran for a few more minutes as the gymnast stuck her head out the window and smiled, "Aw, your neighbors aren't sticks in the mud, Yang! It's fine!"

"Uh-huh, sure, go ahead and tell me that when dad and I get stuck with a noise pollution fine because of you!" The blonde growled with a smirk, wagging her finger shortly after with one hand on her hip as Nora exited the vehicle, "Now get out here. Ruby and I have a bone to pick with you!"

With a raise of her eyebrow, Pyrrha rolled up the window and pulled her keys out, all the while Nora standing behind Blake's car, the aforementioned teen watching with the chef as the two complete-opposites began to confront the gymnast. "What's this about?"

Ruby peered up at Yang, waiting for the blonde to begin, getting anxious once Yang had cracked her knuckles with a sinister grin. "What did you and Jaune do to our world, Pyr?"

With a confused expression, Pyrrha pointed at her two friends, both of whom had their hands firmly attached to their hips, and glanced towards Blake and Nora. "Um… What? I don't think I… What are you talking about, 'our world'? What does that mean?"

Blake was the one to chirp up, rather going to get to the point instead of being cryptic like Yang. "She's talking about that Minecraft game or whatever it's called. She thinks you and Jaune planted a bomb that blew it up."

With an appalled expression, Pyrrha audibly gasped and stepped back, reaching for the keys she pocketed, but fumbling them as she knew the accusations would stick regardless of what she said. Still, worth a shot to try. "H-h-h-how do you know it was us? What's your reasoning?"

The chef and the bookworm both glanced at each other, eager to see how this would end as Yang and Ruby stepped forward slowly, trying to stop Pyrrha from escaping. Their strategy worked as the tall redhead dropped her keys by accident. "Yang said that she saw you and Jaune on that game the other day."

"Woah, wait, what? When?"

"Last week!"

Emerald eyes went wide, understanding now that she had been duped. "No, wait! I can explain!" She tried, backing up quickly as Ruby and Yang both took a side of the car, cutting off her avenue of escape, "Jaune doesn't even play! That was one of his sisters I was playing with! She said she was bored and nobody would play and Jaune was at work so I obliged, I swear!"

"Hm…" Yang smirked, rubbing her chin, "I don't know, Ru… That excuse doesn't sound believable, does it?"

"Nah. Not at all."

"What kind of judicial system is this?!"

"The one where _I_ am the law and _I_ say who's guilty or innocent! And I deem you _guilty as sin_! Get her, Ru!"

"Oh, god!" Pyrrha jumped on the back of her car, onto the roof and used it as a springboard to get around, rolling in the grass as she did so before jumping to her feet and running towards the back yard. "You can't catch me!"

"Bu, I think she's challenging you!"

"Yang, I think you're right!" With that, Ruby smirked sinisterly and bent low to the earth before taking off in an unrivaled speed, causing Blake's mouth to drop. She had heard that Ruby was fast, but this was ridiculous! How was she not on the track team? Even if it was just a sprint, the young teen easily closed the gap as Yang caught up, the latter waving to her newly arrived guest.

"Hey, Nora, sorry I've ignored you!" The chef cutely smiled and waved her friend off, "If you don't mind taking Pyr's stuff? Ruby and I have to have a little word with her."

"Sure, thing."

Blake shrugged as Nora walked away, deep in her mind considering her options. If she went around back, she'd have to get involved and do something about the, uh… 'Talk'. However, if she didn't and ignored it, opting to help Nora instead, she could just say she didn't know what was happening. Glancing back, she saw an epic take-down that was sure to make the highlight reel, Ruby tackling Pyrrha, but easily getting shucked off as Yang dove in. Pyrrha was skilled enough, however, to roll away, causing the blonde to land on open earth. "Need any help?" Nora shrugged before shaking her head, "Want any help?"

"Eh, why not?" Picking up the keys and unlocking the door, digging into the back seat and picking up one gold and one pink duffle bag, throwing both over her shoulder and kicking the door shut, locking it as she did so. "You could be a doll and open the doors for me."

"Oh, sure thing!" The response was nearly sarcastic sounding, but the bow-wearing teen meant it sincerely. Anything to avoid the mess the trio around back were surely getting into. Blake held the first door, then quickly ran around to catch the second one which allowed entrance into the house. Nora nodded in thanks and threw both duffel's down the stairs without care before walking into the kitchen as if she owned the place, calling out as Blake caught up to her.

"Taiyang, I'm home!"

"Hey, Nora!" Tai greeted from the table with a smile, "How're you doing?"

"Oh, I'm wonderful! Thank you!"

The man smiled and nodded, but noticed a distinct lack of other arrivals, causing him to raise an eyebrow. "I thought you were coming in with Pyrrha? Where is she?"

Blake was the one to respond, pointing out the back door that sat behind Tai and smiled, "Yang and Ruby are beating her up."

"Really? For what?"

"Apparently Pyrrha left a trap that destroyed their castle in that mine game whatever it is." The man's eyes went wide in realization, beginning a laughing fit that almost turned him blue. Nora took it upon herself to shrug before raiding the fridge as Blake, in a confused state, inquired further, "What's so funny?"

"It's the best feeling in the world," He began cryptically, wiping a tear from his eye, "When someone takes the fall for what you did. Heh, makes the prank all the better!"

Amber eyes wide, Blake's mouth dropped as she watched the man compose himself, understanding just what he had done. What was better, he was going to get away scot free! A can of soda cracked open loudly as the door to the garage swung open, a voice crying in terror before near literally flying down the stairs, two more sets of footsteps close behind. This caused Taiyang to laugh even harder. "You are an absolutely evil man and I think I'm jealous."

"Re-remember, girls." He said through his giggling fits, holding a lone finger to his lips, "Mumps the word." Both teens nodded with smirks before turning to each other, the short chef being the first to step away.

"Let's go stop them from killing each other, Blake." Nora sighed, heavily, knowing that a death couldn't happen until _later_ in the night.

The duo easily walked down the steps and into the basement, finding a sight to behold. Around the corner and in the workout room, Pyrrha had cornered herself, with a dumbbell in each hand, both looking pretty heavy. The duo watched as Yang and Ruby waited out their friend, whose arms would surely be exhausted soon. "Come on, I dare ya!" Pyrrha challenged, "I've got a one dumbbell for each of you dumbbells!"

Silver eyes and lilac orbs connected, the owners nodding and taking a step back each, lowering the gymnasts guard for a second. All she needed as Yang threw her training gloves at Pyrrha, causing her to drop the fifteen-pound rubber-laced dumbbells, and caused Ruby and Yang to take the upper hand, both securing one arm. The former on Pyrrha's right and the latter on the left. "Gotcha!" The blonde cheered, "Now, you're gonna pay!"

"It wasn't me, honest!"

"Then why did you run?" Ruby inquired honestly as she and the hostess slowly dragged Pyrrha back to the main room.

"To delay the inevitable! Duh! I knew you two wouldn't listen to me, so I took initiative!"

Yang shook her head, tisking her friend as she did so. "Pyrrha," She chided, "You're the oldest one of us, you should be setting the example for us, all, especially young Ruby!" She pulled the brunette in, putting both hands on her shoulders and smiling, "Look at how impressionable she is!"

"I want to run away from the police, now."

"See what you've done?"

Growing annoyed with the antics of the two girls, Pyrrha huffed out loud, "Okay!" and forced herself free, "What do I have to do to make up for… Whatever I did?"

This question caught both Yang and Ruby off guard, causing them to think whole glancing at each other, then the girls behind them, who intently watched with interest to see the dramatic and hopefully civil conclusion to the issue. "Man, what can we do?" Yang asked, though it sounded unsure.

"We can have her rebuild the castle… In full." The brunette recommended.

"Her and Jaune?"

"Yeah, I think that works."

"Okay, Pyr!" Yang clapped, her and the youngest beside her standing at solemn attention, "Here's your punishment: You and Jaune will rebuild the castle to it's former glory and you'll have… A week?" All present nodded in agreement, save for Pyrrha, who pouted and shook her head, "If you fail to do so, then… You…"

"You have to wash all of our clothes!" Nora chirped from behind, causing everyone to react with quizzical expressions. "And I'll tell you how that'll work! You will personally drive to all of our houses and spend however long it takes, doing our laundry! We'll give you the entire weekend to do so, and if you fail to accomplish that then we'll take more drastic measures!"

"Like what?" Ruby asked with a shrug.

"Glad you asked, but _that's_ a surprise!"

Both blonde and brunette nodded while locking eyes on each other. "Okay, credit Nora." The nurse said, "So that settles it, then. Understand, Pyrrha?" Emerald eyes rolled as their owner nodded, her face still showing signs of a pout. "Good! With that out of the way, I think we should officially start this thing! And, unfortunately for our two early birds, here, I have to give the tour all over again." Both Ruby and Blake shook their heads, gesturing that the blonde was fine. The hostess collected the electronics and turned off the screen as well as the console before returning to the group.

The blonde began to give a quick tour of the new furniture that she and her father had acquired for the remodel and even went into detail about how annoying it was to paint the walls the gold color that it had, and that the subway tile in the workout corner was a pain to put down but worth it in the long run. Taiyang's office was a small boxed in space surrounded by sound-proof windows, along the farthest wall from the stairs was a bookshelf loaded with medical journals while a desk sat at the front, facing the same wall that had the TV, a standard-sized computer screen sat atop that, a yellow light steadily glowing, indicating that it was in sleep mode.

Then, she brought the foursome's attention towards the TV, what she claimed would be the group's main source of entertainment for the night, something that Ruby and Blake have both gotten an understanding of, but within a cabinet under the TV sat multiple board games, while most of the physical copies of her games stood beside the cabinet in a small, wooden shelf, seemingly in alphabetical order. Though, the blonde didn't care about any of that, her interests were towards the board games, currently, bending down to pull out a large, baby-blue colored box that sat on top of the pile, letting it hit the floor and slide towards the coffee table, which was currently loaded with both empty and full cans of pop and two bowls of snacks, allowing all present to examine the box, smiles growing upon the faces of all but one.

Emerald orbs peered down and met silver eyes, their owners both smiling sinisterly at each other, understanding now just what the blonde was looking to do. "We're going to get this little feud out of the way, you two, because I'm sick of the smack talk!"

Nora pipped up as Ruby and Pyrrha began to clear the coffee table enough for there to be room for the large game board of Risk. "To be fair, it hasn't been as bad this week…"

"No, you're right, but old habits will return." Yang said, matter-of-factly. The week prior these two were practically at each other's throats, getting into little spats about who really won as they had to call it a draw, due to the length of time the game was taking. Bad move on Yang's apart but it was getting really boring. She turned to the raven-haired teen, who awkwardly stood back and watched the group set up before her, nudging the bow-wearing teen as she got closer. "You know how to play?"

"Hm?" Blake hummed, being brought back to reality before realizing what was happening, "Oh, yeah! I played this all the time when I was a kid!"

"Ah, you any good?"

Amber eyes peered back to the group and watched as the prepared the upcoming battleground, a small smile cracking her face as she tried to hide it behind her right hand which she used to run her chin, "Between you and me…" She whispered, "Watch me crush them into the dirt."

* * *

Pyrrha and Ruby both sat on the couch against the wall, both with a firm pout on their face and a near mirror image of each other in terms of their body expressions: Both had their arms folded in front of their chests as they sat back on the couch, watching the trio below go at it.

The game started nearly perfectly for Ruby and Pyrrha; they were side by side each other on the map, only having one of Nora's armies to deal with. Or so they thought. Blake had captured menagerie first and since there was only one way to the island country, she bolstered defenses and began to stockpile her armies. Yang had Vale and Patch and scattered armies and did the same, going at it with Nora and sometimes with Ruby, who just wanted the strategic advantage of the Mountain Glenn resources. The blonde wouldn't budge, though, and anyone who got in her way was dealt with thoroughly. Nora only survived by messing with Ruby and Pyrrha on Mistral, having blasted the rose out of the desert in Vacuo, she quickly dealt with her young friend, then took all of Ruby's resources and launched a finishing blow on Pyrrha, who had been weakened severely by the youngest member of the group.

In one turn the two rivals were taken down, now forced to spectate as Nora had to combat a nightmarish number of armies by both Yang and Blake, who luckily had their sights set on each other. Yang was a trap mistress, as she put it, having a trap card set on every possible territory she held. Blake, however, had a well-built army with many offensive and defensive weapons, while Nora was just rebuilding after going all out. On the other hand, Nora also had the most land compared to the other two, so she had that going for her. The downside: The only way to Blake was through a small territory on Vale, one that allowed for transportation to Mystral and both of which were currently owned by a certain short chef.

"Who do you think goes down first?" Ruby whispered, her first words since the fatal turn. The athletic girl beside her sighed before shrugging, unable to believe that she was in this position. After all that smack, she didn't even have the privilege of lasting a turn longer than Ruby, let alone being the one to end the young girl. "Come on, make it interesting?"

"To be honest," Pyrrha finally whispered back, "I don't think Nora stands a chance. Yang and Blake have spent the entire game building up their armies, she just got done with a huge battle. She'll be lucky to survive two more turns."

One counts a turn based on how many times it comes back to them. Once it rotates to you again, it's a new turn.

Ruby nodded, her folded arms loosening slowly, as did her facial expression as she turned away, feeling bad that she had acted like such a brat. Her friends thought she was playing, though she wasn't too sure, anymore. Glancing back, she saw that Pyrrha was shifting slightly in her seat, loosening her attitude as well, but stayed keenly watching the battle below. Just as she opened her mouth to say something to her would-be rival, Ruby's ears were pierced by a soul-crushing scream, only to turn and find that in the two minutes she turned away, Blake had demolished everything Nora owned, taking the chef out in one go.

"What the hell?" Pyrrha asked, blinking three times while Yang sat in stunned silence, Nora on the verge of playful tears. "What just…?"

Blake easily shrugged before turning her gaze towards the blonde across the table from her, "What can I say?" She asked, unblinking, "I'm _really_ good."

Ruby blinked, her eyes wide with shock. She knew Blake was going to be good; the faunus had an aura around her that screamed confidence without cockiness, but she didn't know that she would be this good. What was worse, Blake didn't even use half of her resources on this, nor did she even utilize Menagerie's country effect! While Vale's country effect was faster travel time and stronger defensive stats, Menagerie stood with a trap-negating surprise attack effect that was destructive as ever. Knowing this, Ruby honestly believed that Yang didn't stand a chance.

"Wow." The aforementioned blonde chuckled, "You really are good." Blake nodded in thanks, but blinked while Yang smashed her fists onto the table, her face showing an excited and eager form of happiness. "Now maybe I'll have a challenge! Think you can break through my Demon Defense!?" She followed her question with an audible, sinister laughter, one that would inspire fear in most. But in Blake…

"Hmph. I wonder about that." Lilac eyes blinked as their owner stopped the laughter, now glaring at the challenge before her that was known as Blake Belladonna. "You're going to wish you never asked me to play."

"Oh, really?" The hostess offered, her voice showing signs of a shaky resolve as she turned towards the red-themed teen on the couch beside her. "Ru, can you confirm?"

Silver eyes glanced from the blonde, to the board, to Nora, then locked onto amber eyes before sighing deeply. "Yang… You might be screwed."

"Might? No assurance?"

"Nope." Even though, in Ruby's mind, she was ninety-nine percent sure that Blake had this won. Still, Yang had to pay for not offering her assistance during the fight against Pyrrha. She will fall by Blake's hand and Ruby will feel a sense of pride for her neighbor. "You may have a chance, you may not."

"Then that's good enough for me! Come then, Blake Belladonna! Show me your fury!"

The disguised faunus shrugged easily, picking up the dice near her as she examined Nora's cards that she acquired once defeating the young chef. " _If you insist_."

* * *

Yang sat in between Ruby and Pyrrha on the couch, her arms folded before her chest and her face resounding with pout as the board sat at the table in front of her, black game pieces dominating every area. Needless to say, she lost, though she put up an amazing battle.

Blake, being the winner, she got to decide what to do next as well as had to be the one to pick up the game. Though she would do one thing at a time. Nora was currently helping her examine the Xiao Long's massive inventory, all in hopes of finding something to peak her interest. There had been a few titles, but all of them were just up for consideration.

Ruby, sitting back in her seat, stared at the blonde beside her with a sense of fear, scared to say anything that may disgruntle the blonde further. It was a tough loss to take, having almost survived the first assault. All of her traps went to waste, all of her defense was chipped away far too easily. By the second assault, her resources were spread thin, while Blake managed hers all too well.

"I don't know where you found her, Ruby." Yang huffed, "But she is _good_."

The young teen smiled before patting her blonde hostess on the back, closing her eyes as she did so and nodding her head. "Think about it like this, Yang. You managed to make it farther than both Pyrrha and I. Heck, you were top two. That's gotta count for something, right?"

The blonde smirked before patting her friend on the knee, her eyes locked on the raven-haired teen across the room. "Yeah, I guess it does, you endless spring of optimism." Ruby shrugged while Yang rose from her seat, walking over to the library of games she had acquired over the years. Luckily for her, all of the games could be archived and played on any console, no matter when it was made, so as long as you had a physical copy, you could download its data and play it. Quite a few to the collection, both that Taiyang had from his youth and Yang from hers. "So, Blake, got any ideas?"

The bow-wearing teen picked up one case and turned with a smirk, letting all present read the writing on the box. "How about this?"

"Oh…" Yang said in surprise, taking the case from her friends' hands. She read over it casually and nodded, "Sure. We haven't done this one in a while, but hey! Always nice to go back to the classics, right?"

* * *

 **How's that for a first part, huh?**

 **Poor Pyrrha, getting blamed for Taiyang's prank. He may or may not be pulling things like that in the future... We'll find out where Yang gets it from very soon. Also, Blake appears to be really good at board games, all the while Pyrrha and Ruby can't help but stay tunnel-visioned in a dick-measuring contest only to be demolished and brought back to reality by Nora. Oh well, what're gonna do? Not even Yang can keep those two separated, and yet for some reason they can tolerate each other. Is it just a friendly rivalry, or has Ruby finally adapted to Pyrrha's methods?**

 **Poor Yang, proving once again that a good defense doesn't mean shit when you're up against someone who knows what to do. Still, though, just where did Blake learn to play that game so well?**

 **Final note: Just what the hell was with Ruby and Tai? Poor girl caught in a double-negative; didn't want to break his heart, but also can't tell the truth because if she does, then Yang will know, and if Yang knows that she's been lied to for over a year... Let's not think about that...**

 **So, yeah, that pretty much wraps that up. Next chapter, which we hope won't be delayed too much longer, will be probably the busiest one yet. A lot of action, a lot of games and trash-talk, and may or may not have some real talk heavy moments. I can promise you this, we'll get a glimpse into Yang's innate hatred for Weiss and her friends (finally!).**

 **That being said, what was your favorite part? I was a personal fan of Taiyang's deception myself, but I may be biased in that regard. So, with that, I'm going to head off and see if I can finish up the next part. I know I said I'd post them all at once but at the rate I'm going, 30-40k words spread into 3 chapters can really take some time. So, I'm just going to post them as I go. Hope that's okay!**

 **Until Next Time**


	18. A Night at Yang's pt 2: The Young Night

**Holy crap, this chapter was more fun to write than the lockdown one. There's a lot that happens even though there was a lot more that I wanted to add. I wasn't going to make a 4** **th** **part, though, so instead of having a fucking 22-thousand-page chapter (which will never fly to you all, and rightfully so), I had trimmed down stuff that I felt weren't entirely necessary. Though some things did happen off-page, and I'll list them off at the end.**

 **I know this is a lot, so space yourself out. This doesn't require a full-read in one go, I'm not timing your reading comprehension... Shit, maybe I should start timing my writing comprehension? That might get a chapter out quicker... Anyway, moving on. Just take this at your own pace, it's a lot to take in.**

 **For now, enjoy the most fun at writing I've had in a while!**

* * *

Taiyang checked his watch and sighed. He didn't mean to be up this early, as he didn't have to work for another couple of hours, but he also wasn't going to miss the chance to say hello to everyone, either. Worth it, in his mind. Especially, to see the new faces. Sure, he's known Pyrrha and Nora since they were kids with Yang in elementary. But she's only known Ruby through association, and Blake is the true newest arrival for the group.

The girls had been up and down the stairs a lot recently, meandering about the main floor and away from the door, whispering about something. First it was Nora and Pyrrha, then Blake and Yang after his daughter ran downstairs with a paper and pencil in hand. What were they doing down there? Whatever it was, it was noisy. He pondered just where Yang could have heard such language, knowing that it just couldn't have been him.

Maybe Qrow had something to do with it, that potty mouth.

Glancing down at his watch again, he wondered just what there was for him to do. Clearly, he wasn't needed here and was only playing the… Let's see, there's Yang, Ruby, Pyrrha… Right now, he was the sixth wheel, and it didn't get much worse than that. Maybe he could do dinner, call up a friend or a coworker, see if they want in before work…

Or, maybe he could call someone else…

Coming to his decision, Taiyang rose from his seat and began to ready himself. Work began at eight, and that gave him some time for some investigating. Once he had his shoes on and he had collected his coat, he walked to the garage and popped the basement door slightly open, peering into the well-lit basement, calling down to his guests and daughter. "I'm heading out, girls! I'll see you tomorrow."

"Going to work already?" Yang called up, craning her head around to face up the stairs, bending backwards on the side of the couch, "Isn't it only, like, six?"

"Almost." He chuckled. "I've got some things to do at the office, anyway, so this will be for the best."

"O-okay, then." His daughter stuttered, "I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Have a good one. Pyrrha, I'm counting on you to keep them all out of trouble!"

Yang rolled her eyes as her friends chuckled at the compliment and insult. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, old man." She sarcastically groaned, "I'll remember that for later." The group waited a minute for the garage door to open, then shut again a few minutes later, indicating that the man had finally left. Not like he was getting in the way or anything, but his presence was causing them some difficulties in terms of things to do. True as it may be that they didn't have a schedule, the group would like to get some activity going, rather than staying stationary the entire night.

Ruby was busy jotting down something on a clipboard that her hostess had found within Taiyang's office in the corner, using the pen and paper she was given, only stopping to think. She was given the highly important task of creating a tournament tree for Blake's game, making it be as unbiased as possible that would also be the most interesting. Everyone waited in silent and growing anticipation, but refused to rush their friend. Ruby's job was tough enough as is.

In her mind, it had to run smoothly and interestingly. Blake had set forth the rules to the classic Pokémon Stadium Elite, which had only earned an Elite status after receiving an update by the original developer for the latest consoles, one that gave all of the Pokémon in its library. All seven generations were there, and the rules went as followed: Everyone can make only one premade team to use. Once you've used it once, you have to draft a new team each time. Yes, there were limitations, but not too many, as the supposed legendries of the game had crappy moves. Still, Blake was fair and allowed one legendary per team, just to make it interesting. During drafting, the opponent must leave to the upstairs area, with whatever company they'd like, while their opponent decides their team. It was a tournament, but how it would be conducted, she left to her neighbor, Ruby.

"I think I've got it." Ruby said, giving her creation a once over before nodding happily, "Yeah, here we go." She set the paper down on the table and let the group admire her work before confusion began to set in over her lack of proper handwriting. There were two trees that connected with each other on the left side, and only one on the right. Yang's name was at the very top, matched with Nora while Pyrrha was placed in the same round as Blake. Across on the right side, Ruby's name sat all alone. "I hope you don't mind but I took it upon myself to give myself a bye round, given that I won it all last time, if I recall correctly."

Nora rolled her eyes and pouted, "Don't remind me." She muttered, only to get a tongue stuck out at her.

"Okay, I see how it's working." Yang said, picking up the paper. "So, the winner moves on and the loser goes to a second chance round, the loser's bracket, where if they lose again they're out."

Ruby nodded happily, "Yup. And if that loser happens to win, they get to face me." She also shot a glare at the chef across the table. "And no throwing the match just because you want a rematch. Otherwise, I'm disqualifying you." Nora nodded, understanding the implications and silently kicking herself, her plans being easily thwarted like that. "So, we can either do Yang's match with Nora first, or Pyrrha's match with Blake? Your call, girls."

All four looked around and each other before the first two nodded, Yang deciding first, "We'll go, why not."

"Alright, Yang will decide first, Nora has to go upstairs with any company she desires."

Emerald eyes locked onto the young chef, the owner shrugging before finally standing up. "Interesting choice of words, there, Ruby."

As the duo walked up the stairs, Ruby furrowed her brow with confusion and glanced to Yang, who had picked up her controller and guided herself to the drafting page. "What did she mean by that, Yang?"

The hostess shook her head and sighed heavily, "I'll let you know when you're older." She said. "Pyrrha's just being a little instigator is all."

* * *

Ruby made her scribbles she knew as writing into the tournament list, crossing off Nora's name and moving it to the right side where it belonged. She fell to Yang's premade Dragon Comp., one that the blonde had made the last time all the girls were present. They've done this before, only in the last time, they all had a premade team that had a specific theme. Pyrrha's was fire, Nora's was electric, Yang's was dragon's and Ruby was given permission to use her own special comp: The Evee-lution. Essentially, it was every Eevee evolution. What the others didn't realize was that their speed and attack was extremely high- like, brokenly high. It was ridiculous, but what they didn't know wouldn't hurt them.

Yang's match with Nora went down fairly quickly, as Nora created an Ice-specific team to counter the dragons. What she didn't know, however, was that Yang made a team that had at least one fire move each, because she knew that her chef-friend would try to counter what was obviously coming. Fortunately for the blonde, it went well. Nora currently curled into a ball on the far side of the room, having been thoroughly humiliated twice today at games she usually does well on, ignoring the calls for her to get back to it.

"Okay, Pyrrha, Blake." Ruby called, standing up, "Your turn."

The gymnast and the bookworm both locked eyes with each other, the former standing up first and shrugging, "I'm going to use one of my older ones that I made a while ago, so you can go ahead and pick. But… Ruby, I hope you don't mind coming up with me?"

The silver-eyed teen blinked in surprise by the request, assuming that she would have chosen Yang or Nora. "Uh, yeah, okay, sure. Let's go." She bounced off the couch and followed the taller girl up the stairs, closing the door behind her so they could avoid eavesdropping and face an automatic disqualification. Pyrrha leaned against the wall across from the bathroom, watching as Ruby stood beside the basement door, arms folded in front of her chest. Just by her sheer body language, she was able to tell that Ruby had a feeling that she was here for a reason. She was no dummy. "So, uh…" The younger one began, rubbing the back of her head, "Sorry about what Yang and I did earlier. I actually kind of believe you…"

 _'She's stalling.'_ \- "It's okay. It'll give Jaune and I something to work on together." She said simply, wanting to get to the point quickly. "Listen, Ruby, I wanted to talk to you about the Volleyball team."

"Oh, yeah! Sure!"

"Are you going to go for it?"

Ruby happily nodded, "Yeah! I'm having some issues convincing my family, but they're only worried about health and all that."

"I can see that." Pyrrha admonished, "There can be a lot of health concerns for any sport. I just want you to know that if you have any questions, I'm here for you."

Once again, silver eyes blinked in surprise. Ruby had a feeling she was being brought up for something, but she totally forgot about the volleyball team. It was nice to know that Pyrrha really did care, Oh, wow, thanks Pyrrha…" She said, honestly, "I may have something when we have a little bit more privacy than now, if you know what I mean."

The taller teen gave an assuring nod. "I understand, you're trying to keep this on the down-low, so to speak. I just wanted to make sure that you understood everything."

"I'm fine, Pyrrha, thank you." Ruby assured, "Right now the ball isn't in my court anymore, I'm just trying to get the people who make the decisions on my side, if you know what I mean."

Both girls shared a giggle, but another thought came to Pyrrha's mind, one that blurted right out: "Are your parents really all that concerned about your well-being?" Silver eyes went wide in an instant as their owner realized what she just said, pretty much backing herself into another corner. "I understand if they're afraid of you getting hurt, but you make it sound as if there's something else?"

"Oh, well…" Ruby kicked herself as she rubbed the back of her head, trying to shrug it off and make an excuse, but nothing came to mind. "See, it's just that… You know, my, uh, parents are worried that I'll take it too far and hurt myself, you know?"

The gymnast chuckled, covering her mouth with her hand in an attempt to hide it, "Really? I mean, do they know who you are?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, it's just that you don't go that far in class usually, at least you didn't for the longest time. Unless, of course, you're not showing me everything you can do."

A light blush came to Ruby's face as she felt a hint of a challenge out of her friend, unsure if Pyrrha was trying to say something or just talking. "Well, of course I'm a different person at home than I am at school. Isn't everybody?"

"That's not the point." Pyrrha admonished, "We want you on the team because we believe that you can be a difference maker for us. Both Coach Glynda and myself see you as a trump card, but you'll never make it if you keep holding back."

"What if I don't want to go all out? What if I want to be more careful with what I do?"

"That's fine, but it also means that you won't be going anywhere. Not on our team, and not in life."

Silver eyes glared into emerald orbs, trying to figure out the latter's angle here. What the hell was Pyrrha saying or what was she trying to do? Ruby is always so reluctant to let loose and be 'herself' because she is afraid that she will hurt herself, or somebody else. On Tuesday, she could have seriously hurt Pyrrha, and now the same girl that was once a physical trampoline for her was trying to get her to do what exactly?

"We can have this staredown all night long, Ruby, but you know I'm right." The redhead said easily, "I can see it in your eyes, you're considering the option and what I've said."

"And just what are you saying?" Ruby challenged with a hint of spite.

"If you want to make it anywhere in life, you need to change."

Ruby was ready to open her mouth and challenge the claim, uninterested with giving the gymnast the last word on the matter, but before she could, a pair of feet began to charge up the stairs, calling the attention of both teens who glanced at the door and watched as it flew open, revealing a familiar blonde.

"What the hell is going on up here?" Yang inquired, "We've been calling for you for a good two minutes now! Blake's ready, so get off your ass!"

Emerald eyes rolled sarcastically at the comments, "Geez, can't two girls have a conversation in peace?"

"No!"

"Fine. Come on, Ruby." Pyrrha tapped the younger teen's shoulder, nodding towards the stairs, "I want you to watch as I destroy your neighbor."

With a raise of her eyebrows, Ruby watched as the taller teen descended into the basement, shaking her head before slowly following suit. "Oh, boy, do you have another thing coming…"

* * *

The night, more the tournament, progressed steadily, with a lot of intense emotions. Blake and Pyrrha's match went down to the wire, the former's Gengar against the latter's Infernape. Unfortunately, the monkey couldn't shake a bad case of nap-time, falling for Gengar's yawn/dream-eater combo. The raw speed of the Ghost-Type was nightmarish to the point where Ruby was forced to ban it past the quarter-final round. Still, the win counted and Blake was moving on to fight Yang.

The next fight went between two girls that drove together: Nora and Pyrrha. The latter fought what was bound to be electric with ground, and her suspicions were correct. Poor Nora literally didn't make it past the first one of Pyrrha's choice. The chef went and pouted in the corner, having been thoroughly thrashed two games in a row, this time was a revenge for the board game.

Next was Ruby against Pyrrha, the toughest choice for the gymnast. The thing about Ruby was that she always thought a step ahead, and since she was picking first, she decided that the best way to go was to once again use the Eevee-lution squad, putting the ever-so-elegant Vaporeon first, who went far and wide to end up sweeping Pyrrha's fire team. The idea was that usually the youngest would have a grass-team as her pre-made draft, but she loved the cute Eevee's so much that she just couldn't put them down. The speed of Vaporeon alone rivaled Gengar, even, but because Ruby used them once, she couldn't do it again. That didn't matter to her, though, she's in the finals again and that's all that mattered.

Blake was honestly surprised. They didn't have this game on Patch, she only discovered it after leaving the home and wondered just what Ruby did to get this good at it. Unless something changed after the fact, maybe this was all dumb luck? Or, maybe this was pure skill.

The disguised faunus went up against her hostess for the evening, unsure of how to feel about it. Yang was just as much of a dangerous thinker as Ruby was. In fact, the blonde boasted about how she taught the young teen everything she knew about the game, and after seeing Ruby's thought process to combating Pyrrha, she could only fear how far ahead Yang was thinking. The only way to combat that was to go first and maybe psych Yang out. She did, picking her team to counter anything. It was a very generic lockdown type build, aiming to stop any movement in it's tracks. It worked, to an extent.

Yang chose her Full-Power Dragons team, which had high attack and defense but low speed. Speed didn't matter to her, though, when you need a big-hit fast. Ultimately, Blake put up a good fight, but Yang was able to pull through with half her team intact. Now, she was at the top of the stairs with her former adversary, in the championship round and waiting as Ruby chose first. Since both had used their pre-made teams, they had to actually draft, and that made it all the worse in the long run. Just not being able to think what the other was doing, not knowing what they could be up against… The thought of walking into a trap made Yang shutter.

"What do you think, Blake?" The blonde muttered, leaning against the wall, trying to stay as far away from the stairs as possible. "What do you think I'm up against?"

The bow-wearing teen perked up and raised an eyebrow at her friend, "Why would you ask me? After all, she's your supposed little sister. Shouldn't you know what she's going to pick?"

"Ah, I should. But, unfortunately, Ruby isn't exactly the most consistent. If anything, she's probably choosing something that will counter fire or dragon, because that's what I'd pick. But, she also may know that I know what she's thinking, which makes her decision all the trickier…"

"Wow, you're putting a lot of thought into this."

The blonde winked, "It's amazing, isn't it? Just imagine how well I could do in school if I applied myself this hard." Blake chuckled lightly, but returned her true attention to the discussion below. It was the softest of talking going on between Nora, Pyrrha and Ruby, all three trying to figure out what to draft. Ruby had tossed around the idea of fighting against fire, but also brought up the possibility that Yang would counter that and surprise her completely. That was a nightmare scenario. Instead, however, she said that she just had an idea, and whatever it was, it surprised her two friends. "Something wrong?" Yang asked, bringing Blake back into the realm of reality. "You look intrigued?"

"It's nothing." The young woman shook off, "I just… Have a feeling this one will be interesting, is all." Now, it was Yang's turn to raise an eyebrow, but she was stopped at the sound of feet ascending the stairs behind her black-themed friend. Lilac eyes soon came into contact with oddly confident silver orbs that glared a challenge at her like no other. Ruby stepped forward, then to the side and freed up the hall, silently gesturing to Yang that the basement was ready.

The blonde smiled before placing her hands on her hips, having a stare down with the younger teen that could spark a fire at any instant. Their expressions, to Blake, both screamed confidence in themselves, but also in each other. Confidence that the other will provide the challenge they not only require, but they need. Blake was surprised to see this out of Ruby; never in her wildest dreams could she imagine the girl to have grown this bold, especially considering how she acted in her past. Even this past week has offered a glimpse into a simple fact that she hadn't changed as much, but perhaps she was wrong? Maybe it just depended on her environment?

"My turn, huh?" Yang asked, her smile not wavering for a second.

Ruby simply nodded, "Good luck." She said as the blonde walked by, "You're going to need it." Lilac eyes glanced one last time at her before descending into the basement, causing two old friends to look at each other again. "Before you say anything: Yes, I'm confident in my decision."

"You played really well against Pyrrha, so I have faith in your abilities." Blake said as Ruby leaned against the same spot that Yang was against, "Though I must say I detect an iota of arrogance within you. Might want to ditch that before the game kicks off." Though, she was surprised to hear a chuckling from the young teen, who shook her head while folding her arms in front of her chest.

"Oh, Blake," She began, "You'd think I'd have learned by know, huh? Don't worry about me. My decision was… Different, to say the least. Needless to say, my theme is that of a champion."

"Oh, really?"

With a nod, Ruby continued, "I've channeled the hearts and minds of all my friends into on team. Call it cliché, but I'm proud of what is about to happen."

* * *

The blonde cracked her knuckles before picking up her controller, leaning back in her seat on the Massage Couch, now called the 'Champion's Seat', where on the left side sat the blonde, the challenger, while on the right, on the edge of her seat and leaning forward was the defending champion, Ruby. The youngest watched simply as the blonde went through the rituals, stretching her muscles and cracking her bones, loosening up as if she was actually going to fight.

A sense of nervousness ran through both combatant's minds as they awaited permission to start, carefully examining each team. Blake had made a rule for the last round that made it so that both participants could use the full power of their teams, rather than only three. Why keep them held back, was her excuse. The screen before the match was all about picking who is going to be in what place on your team, but that didn't concern Ruby. It was how completely unexpected Yang's team was, just like Yang was surprised at how far into left field Ruby was.

The champions team consisted of a Pokémon for each of her friends, one that Ruby felt embodied everyone she knew. She had a Zoroark for Blake, a Lucario for Ren, an Aggron to represent Ren, a Luxray for Nora (despite the girl's protest that it should be a Magnezone…), an Arcanine for Pyrrha, and finally something to represent Yang. A Garchomp, something the blonde had used as her ace for some time now.

Yang read the list before her, but couldn't get an understanding as to why Ruby would pick the ones she chose. Her picks were ones she thought would do best against a random force, one she foresaw on the horizon after a (illegal) warning from Pyrrha. So, to counter random she made Power: A Milotic, a Tyranitar, a Machamp, a Braviary, a Blaziken (for her own added charm) and a new Kommo-O, because in her words: "We need to abuse the seventh generation at some point, right?"

The biggest problem was convincing Blake to allow for starters to be used. She was so against it at first, but came to the conclusion that if Ruby was allowed to use the Eevee team she loved so much, then why not allow a starter or two? But no more than two.

"Are you two ready?" The aforementioned raven-themed teen called, standing beside the screen in eager anticipation. This was the truest test for the so-called sisters, to see just how far they'll go against one another, and to see who will come out on top and how they'll react to it. Both girls smiled, glanced at each other, then nodded as Nora and Pyrrha both began to chow down on the present snacks, finding _this_ all the more enjoyable. "Go ahead and choose."

With their controllers in hand, both Yang and Ruby began to furiously mash the buttons, letting their side of the screens fill quickly before sitting upright and glancing back at each other again. Mouths agape, the gymnast and the chef both looked at each other and began to laugh, knowing that this was better than a pay-per-view. "What did we do, Pyr?" Nora asked, with a sense of fear.

"Well…" The tall redhead began, "We both fell flat, and let them cry havoc to unleash the hounds of war… This is going to be good."

* * *

This was the last move…

The red and yellow themed teens had driven each other to the brink, their teams battered and beaten, their pride and bragging rights all on the line. It was Ruby's Aggron, whose health was deep in the red, against Yang's Tyranitar, whose health was safely in yellow. Aggron had pulled tanking duty for today and made a comeback win a possibility for the Rose, it's high attack and semi-high defense doing enough work, but it has fallen to Tyranitar's fire-blast. Ruby had one move to go with, one that will change the game before Yang ends it all.

The blonde's monster had a high-enough accuracy to warrant fear amongst those in Team Ruby, which appeared to be everybody after Yang did some smack-talk before the game even started. But, the one thing the two towering creatures matched was speed. And the same speed meant that they'd swap turns going first. Yang's Tyranitar went first last time, which meant Ruby's Aggron would go first now, so she had to choose quickly. At least, she hoped; it was a theory, but not promised.

One of the moves she had was Ancient Power, which would do some damage, but wasn't promised to do a lot. Another attack was Flash Cannon, which always was good for a bind, but didn't have high-damage output, either. A third one was Earthquake, which, if she wanted to, just to mess with Yang… But… Another idea was Fire Fang.

If that hit, not only would it take a chunk of Yang's health, guaranteed, but also had a chance to hit it with a burn, which after the turn would definitely kill her foe… Go for win, or go for cheeky? Oh, the choices…

Yang made her decision long ago, sitting back in her side of the couch, her arms in front of her chest and patiently waiting as the 'losers' of the round (as Yang called them in gloat) sat, shoulder to shoulder on the couch to Ruby's right, silent, waiting for her to make a choice. Go for kill and hope, or go for cheeky and hope? Hm…

"Just remember, Ruby,' Yang began, placing her hand on her opponent's left shoulder, her tone sounding as though she's talking to a child, "No matter what happens, you'll always be a champ to me."

With a deep, long sigh, Ruby nodded, that comment forcing her decision. "Ah, thanks Yang." She said, hitting the down button of the D-Pad, "That helped me make my choice."

"Wait, wha-?" The blonde turned to the screen and watched as the camera panned to the right side where a giant Iron-plated behemoth stood, a line of text scrolling across the bottom. ' _Aggron used Fire Fang!'_ Her eyes went wide with realization, knowing that an attempt upon Bad Manners was in progress. "No way, why would you…?"

All three on the couch watched as the avatar lunged forward, flames around his mouth and biting at the air, while across the field, the green-clad monster known as Tyranitar took the hit, reeling back for a moment before standing up tall again. Ruby crossed her arms and tapped the side of her muscle with her fingers, watching as the beast's health went down, slowly. "It's not going to do it…" Pyrrha whispered, "It wasn't enough…"

Unfortunately, she was right. The health bar stopped moving, deep into the red, causing mostly everyone to sigh dejectedly. Yang fist-pumped as another line of text rolled through, followed by a sound of a flame…

 _'Not very effective…'_

 _'Tyranitar was burned!'_

"Yes!" Ruby cheered, jumping to her feet. She knew that the burn would tick away the last fifteen of the beast's health, meaning that she at least ended this in a tie. "It worked!"

"No way!" Nora cheered, wrapping the teen into a hug. Pyrrha and Blake both watched with Yang as the rest of the battle played out, Aggron being done in by another fire blast, but that was expected. Now was the moment of truth… As the text announcing Aggron's defeat finished scrolling, both Nora and Ruby watched with bated breath as the burn took effect, slowly ticking away Tyranitar's health, until…

 _'Tyranitar has fainted!'_

"No!"

' _The match is a draw!'_

Yang dropped to her knees, mouth agape in awe as her guests swept up the youngest teen into a mosh-pit of an embrace. It worked! Yes!" Ruby cheered, as the blonde pondered just how it all fell apart. She blew a lead the size of Vale, and… Damnit, she was so close! She went easy on Ruby the first time the girl ever played the game, allowing her to win and take bragging rights just because she wanted to be nice, but now, after actually trying… The student almost beat the master…

No…

It can't be…

"No way." Yang said, shaking her head, "I don't lose to bad manners, I _commit_ bad manners! This won't end like this!"

"Yang, I… U-uh, Yang?" Ruby turned to face her former opponent, trying to break free of the groups congratulatory hold to shake hands in a sign of sportsmanship, only to face Yang's back as the hostess walked to the far right side of the basement where a lone closet door stood. Once the plank was opened, the blonde began to pull out a familiar box and fiddled with it, causing the teen's eyes to go wide. "Uh-oh." The youngest giggled as she watched her friend's shoulders shift up and down as Yang's hands were preoccupied within a box. She didn't need to see what was in that box, though, she knew exactly what it meant. "Dear God, run! Go!" The others laughed as they turned towards the stairs, pushing and shoving their way up and overall just getting caught up in a tangled mess in the middle. Nora was trying her hardest to break free first, but it didn't matter.

Ruby was last in the pack, trying to push her friends up the stairs before-

"Gotcha!" A voice from behind affirmed, a force attaching itself to Ruby's ankle firmly, pulling it away from the stairs and causing her to trip while the others finally got their bearings right and charged up to the top. Once there, however, Pyrrha and Blake were both horrified to find that their friend was currently struggling with a familiar blonde 'cop', trying hard to kick her way free and crawl up the stairs, to no avail. "There's no escape! This is for Tyranitar!"

"Ruby!" The gymnast cried, running back down and taking her hands. Blake jumped in, too, wrapping her arms around Pyrrha's waist and pulling the tall teen back. Their combined strength started to supersede the hostess' strength, but she still had a way to capture her friend. "We'll get you out, no problem!" The disguised faunus honestly considered jumping off and tackling the blonde, but thought against it, as she may end up in the big house because of it.

"Yes, save me! Please!"

Yang chuckled before releasing her grip from her friend's ankle, instead taking the hem of her pants instead. "Here you go, Ru-" She began, "It's you or your sweats!"

" _What_!?"

"Yang, that's not fair!" Pyrrha chided.

"Whoever accused me of being fair?" She replied with a wink, "Now which is it, kid?"

Now, she was trapped, knowing full well that her hostess would actually do what she was threatening to do. Yang didn't mind bodies, and no matter how uncomfortable anyone would be, she would be right at home, which made her threat all the more valid. Ruby tried to resist, climbing her way up the stairs as both of the eyes of her friends worriedly glanced at her. What was she going to do? Get a chance at freedom and 'loan' Yang her pants, or be taken hostage?

Her decision was very quickly made when she felt her sweats begin to slide an inch, indicating that Yang was getting antsy for an answer. "Okay! Fine! Pyrrha, Blake, let go!"

"Ruby, are you-"

"Let go! Please! Save yourselves!"

Emerald eyes blinked into an assuring look, understanding why she had just been yelled at like that. She nodded and released her grip, allowing her friend to fall (literally) into the 'cop's' hands. Turning, Pyrrha pushed Blake up the stairs and slammed the basement door shut before once again pushing the new member out into the garage and eventually out into the driveway, where Nora stood with a worried expression. "Oh, thank you!" She cried to the skies, "I thought you all got captured… Where's Ruby?"

Pyrrha shook her head solemnly, "Yang got a hold of her and threatened her with a pants-less game, or be captured."

"How evil!"

"Right." Emerald eyes turned and faced amber orbs before grabbing a hold of Blake's shoulders, "We'll explain the game in a second, but for right now we need to find a place to hide, alright?"

"Sure, I understand… Follow me."

* * *

Yang, with her arm wrapped around her little sister's neck, began to drag the girl into the corner of the basement that Ruby knew as Taiyang's office, throwing her to the floor and looming over the girl and watched as she fixed her bottoms properly. "That was low, Yang." Ruby growled, retying her waistband tightly.

The blonde laughed and shook her head. "Oh, whatever!" She said, "Not like anybody would miss them, anyway."

The teen's face blushed a hard red, one that rivaled the color of Pyrrha's hair. " _Yang_!"

"Oh, you know I'm kidding." She waved off, rolling her lilac eyes. "So, you know the rules. You're the first captured and so you can't leave this room unless somebody lets you out."

"And that somebody could be a very sweet blonde woman I know…?"

"Nice try, but you'd have to do _a lot_ for me in order to have me consider your early release. And most of it would make me a hypocrite." Once again, Ruby's blush began to deepen, causing her to smirk, "As I was saying, you're captured, so sit tight and I'll bring you somebody to play with! Also, the only thing you can touch is a book on the wall. Have fun!" Leaving, Yang pulled the door closed and left her victim all alone in the office, making Ruby think that the only thing that could make this all the better would be a harmonica…

"What did she say about books?"

* * *

"This is a really good spot, Blake." Pyrrha complimented, kneeling behind thick bushes along the front of Yang's house near the porch that was located on the other side of the garage. The disguised faunus first noticed these when she first came in, but realized that it may come in handy when she was told to hide. The bushes were thick enough to hide them all, and there was enough space for the trio to sit along the porch's edge and watch. The only dreaded thought in her mind, however, was the fact that Yang may come out through the front door. "Now, I know what you're thinking…"

"Really, now?"

"' _What the hell kind of friends did I make?'_ Well, let me tell you." She glanced into the amber eyes of a bow-wearing teen and blinked as those eyes pierced through the darkening air around them, "A bunch of weirdo's."

"Aw, you're not _that_ bad."

"Thanks. For that, we'll give you a rundown of the rules. Nora, keep watch for me." The young chef nodded, barely peeking over the top of the neatly trimmed hedge while the taller duo below her began an in-depth explanation. "Here's what's up. So, we have the cop and the robbers, in our cause, we're the robbers. What we stole is up to whatever the cop dictates. We can only go so far out, usually only one, maybe two houses down and we can't use back yards, except for Yang's. When she captures you, she puts you in whatever she deems to be the prison, and in our case, it's probably Taiyang's office. When you've been caught, and you're in there, that's it. You're done. However, somebody can take a risk and break you out."

"We don't like that risk, though." Nora pipped quietly. "Always ends in disaster."

"The cop has a rubber band gun and if she shoots you and hits you, you're dead and then you're really done. Can't be brought back, can't affect the game at all. You're gone."

"Wow." Blake blinked, "That's dark."

"Welcome to our world. Now, onto us. Our job is to just hide and after, like, ten minutes or so, if even one of us is still hiding, the whole team wins."

"Pst! Tell her about the deals with the devil…"

"Thank you, Nora. Deals with the devil are when the cop comes down to whoever has been captured and is still alive, and has them work for the cop on their team. Then, if the cop wins, whoever is on their team wins, also. If the robbers win, then the ones who didn't make the deal or are still free only win. Any questions?"

"Just one." Blake began, "Any way we can fight back?"

The gymnast shook her head carefully, "Not unless you go down and try to rescue a friend, therefore raiding the 'armory', too."

She nodded, accepting the answer with a thumb's up while getting nudged by a certain short-statured woman, "That works, thanks… Nora, what's-?"

"Cop, ahoy!" Nora whispered, ducking into the bushes in-between the two girls, both of whom peeked through the gaps in the branches as the wind began to blow. In the distance, the sun was setting, nearly past the horizon completely, which offered a little light to work with. Other than that, it was up to breaks in the clouds to reveal a shattered moon that would illuminate the sky.

Blake carefully watched her blonde friend as Yang twirled a long stick around, whistling as she did so, nonchalantly examining the surroundings- checking under and inside the cars and around the garage. Once she was around the corner and out of sight, the raven-haired girl sat back and sighed heavily. She had been in this situation before, being a master at it, actually, so this would literally be child's play for her. Probably should hold back, though, just a little bit. But…

"You said one of us can go down after the captives, right?" Pyrrha turned back and nodded, confused at the question, "Good. I can go down after her, but I need a distraction."

"Her being Ruby?"

"Yes, Nora, her being Ruby… You're loud and obnoxious- no offense…"

"Oh, none taken." She replied with a sinister smile, cracking her knuckles, "I know what you're going to ask."

"Think you can do it?"

"Can I."

With a smile, Blake nodded, "Pyrrha, help Nora with the distraction, just in case, so we don't lose another one. While you two keep miss busty over there busy, I'll bring you both a flower, okay?"

The duo nodded to each other and moved into positions, knowing exactly what to do in order to get and keep Yang's attention. Something that would really get her riled up, something to really make her mad…

They had to insult her hair.

Pyrrha planted herself along the side of the garage as Nora simply walked to the front, planting her feet to the floor in a stomp and bringing the attention of the blonde forward, one who was examining the area around her bike, in case someone was hiding with the tools. "Ah, Nora! Come to surrender, have we?"

The girl shook her head fervently with a smile. "Nope!" She said, popping the 'p' at the end. "I have something I want to tell you!"

"Oh?" Yang slowly reached back for the long pistol in her pocket, one with five rubber bands loaded on already. It had a spiked wheel at the end near the handle where it would meet the trigger, thus allowing it to be fired easily. It was damn accurate, two, and could hold the really thick rubber bands that would hurt after impact, too. Luckily, though, she wasn't using those. No, she didn't want to maim today. "And just what's that?"

"Well… I always wondered… Why is your hair so bad?" Lilac eyes broke wide open as Yang felt her heart skip a beat. What did she just say? Why would she say that, Nora loved her hair! Mind you, it was a little long, going nearly all the way down to her butt… But, that doesn't mean…! "It's so curly and looks so dry, do you even _use_ conditioner?"

"Nora…" She growled, balling her hands into fists, "You _better take that back right_ now…"

"Or what?" The short girl giggled, "Are you going to use your hair killing powers on me?"

"I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!" The blonde cried in pure rage, charging at the girl with fire in her heart. Nora didn't deserve to be shot, she deserved to be _beaten into nothing more than dusty oblivion_. The chef chirped before jumping away, bouncing between the two cars and running to the backyard, while the blonde stayed hot on her trail. Pyrrha watched with fear as she gestured for Blake to get a move on, else Yang will catch on and if she does, everyone can assume a position on the wall of death.

"Go make sure Nora lives." Blake assured, entering the open garage door that Yang popped up once the game had started. "Seriously, like, not even playing anymore, Yang might _actually_ kill her." The gymnast nodded before running back to help her friend, leaving the disguised faunus all alone to do what she did best. Carefully entering the abode, she ensured that the door would close without making a sound before pulling the basement door open. The lights downstairs were still on, probably for Ruby's sake, which made her smile. Yang really did care, didn't she?

Blake carefully walked into the basement, trying to ensure that her steps made no noise upon the creaky staircase, glancing around the room until she spotted her prize. A child, her knees to her chest in the corner of a small, enclosed space, her head tucked away into her knees while her arms wrapped around her legs in wait. Waiting for someone to come and help, come rescue her…

Maybe Ruby hadn't changed as much…?

Blake quickly approached the closed door and opened it easily, catching the attention of the lone occupant, who brought her head up and looked into the familiar eyes of an old friend, her shoulders graciously dropping before sighing, "I had a feeling you'd try this…" She said with a smile.

"What's that?" The disguised faunus asked, "A rescue mission for an old friend? Or how about a trip down memory lane."

Ruby chuckled before finally standing up, "No, if you want a trip down memory lane, ask Yang to make the prison one of the closets in the house, then come and rescue me in the middle of the night. That'll really be a trip down memory lane… Or maybe, for a homage to our last day together, I save you?" Blake gave her a deadpanned look, indicating that she was neither fond of nor in a mood to remember those antics. "Okay, fine. Forget I said anything."

"We'll have a talk about this. Now come on-" Blake easily grabbed Ruby's hand and tugged, but was surprised to meet resistance, "We gotta go before…" She finally saw the look in her young friends' eyes, one that spoke of fear and regret, one that forced Blake to turn and face a familiar blonde, whose sinister smile seemed to go endlessly as she shook her head at the duo before her. "Ah, crap! What did you do to Nora, you monster!" Blake cried, taking an aggressive stance towards the blonde, ensuring that Ruby was safely behind her should things go sideways.

Yang laughed maniacally before stepping forward, her hands on her hips and a seductive look to both girls before her. "Well, what do I have here, huh?"

"Answer me!"

"If you must know, I let her go for a moment. When I saw her and Pyrrha playing the distraction, it only made sense that you were trying a _bold_ rescue mission." Once she was within arms-reach, with one hand- her right- Yang pushed Blake into the make-shift prison, forcing Ruby back in also, who pushed herself away from Blake to avoid being landed on, hitting the wall and sliding down. "Oh, and you were _so_ close." She teased. "Oh well. Luck can only take you so far, eh Rubes?"

"Yang!"

"Don't take that tone with me, _young lady_!" Yang threatened, "Every last one of your comrades are on thin ice with me!"

The youngest glanced towards Blake, "What did you do?" Blake shrugged, feigning confusion.

Lilac eyes sarcastically rolled, "Oh, don't give me _that_! You were in on it, too!"

"Yang, I swear, I didn't know they'd go that far!"

"Uh-huh, sure. Well, it doesn't matter. Because right now, I'm looking to shoot on sight. And once _I_ win-" She smirked evilly, "Oh, you won't like what happens next." Both girls gulped at the comment, a hint of pure, unadulterated evil laced their hostess' tone. "However…" She began again, standing upright and rubbing her chin before examining the two grounded prisoners. "You may be of use to me, yet. Blake, did they tell you of a 'deal with a devil'?" The black-themed girl nodded, "Good, because I'm about to make you an offer you can't refuse. And Ruby…" The girl looked up, a hint of worry in her gaze, "I will only make this deal with you on one condition."

Once again, she audibly gulped, worried over what the blonde may do or ask for. Yang was fervently against making her do lewd acts, so she knew her dignity was safe… But… "W-what's that?" She stuttered out, causing Yang's smile to deepen.

"I will only offer the deal if you agree to stay away from Weiss and her friends at all costs. This means during class, after class, before class, the weekends, no contact on any social media, I bar you from even texting them."

"Yang! You can't-"

"I can, _and will_." She harshly retorted, "It's for your safety. Now, I ask you… Do you agree? Because the deal is that the losers have to go and get dinner while the winners not only stay back and relax, but they also get the first bite. And it can be anything our hearts desire. So, what do you girls say? Agree to the deal with the devil?" Both girls looked at each other, each one knowing just what is on the line. They couldn't keep her delayed, either, that was against the rules. No, this was a one-time deal, take it or leave it. "I'll give you one minute do decide."

* * *

Nora and Pyrrha sat beside the car that was parked in the street, kneeling on the curb and carefully watching the home of the Xiao Long's. To their right was a ditch that they'd be more welcoming the thought of hiding in, however the excess rain lately has only made it a very saturated marsh. Luckily, everywhere else was dry, though they weren't sure how long that would be.

They had regrouped here after Yang heard the basement door open, having chased Pyrrha past the garage, she was able to hear inside her house and snuck her way back in, opting to let the other two brats go and save her revenge for later. It was dinner time, anyway.

"Blake's been gone a while…" Nora worriedly said, shaking her head, "You don't think…?"

Pyrrha fervently shook her head, "No, Yang wouldn't kill on sight. She's not like that… Besides, Ruby's down there, she wouldn't hurt her in any way."

"I mean, true, but… She is really mad…"

With a defeated sigh, Pyrrha nodded. "True." In the enraged state she was in, Yang's ideals were probably out the window. Now the gymnast began to worry that her friends were being tortured down there, and Yang could take her time, too, since it's essentially a timeout while she deals with a prison break. Only if it's one cop can that be considered a timeout. The slamming of a familiar light-door brought up both concealed girls' attention. Out in the driveway and under the automatic lights that turned on whenever there was movement, stood a familiar young teen in a red jacket, hurriedly glancing around, anxious to find her friends.

"Nora! Pyrrha! Where are you? Please, I only have thirty seconds!"

The gymnast instantly jumped up and started waving, the moonlight illuminating the world long enough for Ruby to see: Straight out in front of the house and across the street, an obvious but great hiding spot, especially for a temporary space. "Over here!" She cried, watching Ruby run over. Once across the street and around the car, Pyrrha swept the child into a hug before kneeling back down, breaking the embrace only for a moment to inquire: "What happened down there? How did you escape?"

"Yang caught Blake in the act!" Ruby professed, "But Blake negotiated for my escape, in exchange…"

"Oh, no, don't tell me…"

Ruby nodded in affirmation, "Yang and Blake are working together…"

"Damn." Nora cursed, snapping her finger. "I knew she shouldn't have gone alone!"

"Even if she didn't-" Pyrrha admonished, "It would only mean an easy loss for us. That's fine, though, all we need to do is hold out for three minutes and we win. Then, Yang and Blake can treat us to a meal, tonight!"

Ruby raised an eyebrow curiously. Didn't Yang say somebody was just running to get the food? Why, all of the sudden, is it that somebody is paying? Damn, why does anyone have to pay for her! It was bad enough that Blake had to, but she had money for herself! "I-I… Wai-"

"Sh!" Pyrrha quickly snapped, breaking the teen out of her self-depreciating stance as Yang and Blake exited the garage, both of whom began to examine their surroundings. "All we need to do is hide here and we'll win!" Ruby nodded in understanding as she heard Yang bark orders to Blake, telling the disguised faunus to go check any spot she hid in before, to see if the others were there. Nonchalantly, Blake complied, checking the bushes by the porch while Yang went to the backyard, flipping on the patio light. "We aren't back there, honey…" Pyrrha sung, happily.

A chill wind blew as the night carefully grew over them, indicating that the day was now gone. The light of the moon diminished behind the clouds and hadn't returned, which worried the girls that the clouds may open up on them. "Guys…" Ruby whispered, leaning against the car, only to have one arm wrap around her shoulders.

"I'll warm you up, don't worry."

Ruby watched through the car's windows as Yang and Blake regrouped beside the two cars in the driveway, both playfully shrugging as the two beside her began to giggle in joy. They were about to win, rather easily, too! "No, seriously, I need to talk to you about something."

"It's gotta wait, Ruby!" Nora chided in a whisper, "So _shh_!"

Silver eyes blinked, their owner huffed and shook her head, breaking the one-armed embrace. She had her jacket on (as if she ever took it off, tonight, anyway), so she was fine. If anything, Pyrrha was using her to keep warm, and that just wouldn't fly. She watched as the "cops" across the street stood with befuddled expressions, shrugging and glancing around aimlessly. _'They're really playing dumb, aren't they? Come on, guys! Nora and Ruby aren't going to fall for that!'_

"Just a minute!" Pyrrha cheered as she watched her stopwatch on her scroll.

' _Well… Maybe not…_ '

"Thirty seconds!" Nora counted eagerly, watching her scroll with a darkened screen, "We've got it!"

Having enough, Ruby began to reach into her left pocket, "Girls, I _really_ think we need to talk."

"What is it, Ru… by…" Pyrrha was surprised to face the barrel of a rubber band gun, not three inches from the bridge of her nose. "W-w-wha…?"

"Sorry…" Ruby meekly apologized with a shrug, "But… I had to make a deal with the devil…"

"You little-"

"On your feet, now! You're under arrest!" Both Nora and Pyrrha did as they were told, rolling their eyes in frustration and rising to their feet with their hands atop their heads. "And, by the way… We win."

* * *

Yang and Blake watched as their young friend forced the duo out of hiding and crossed the street, the robbers with their hands in the air and annoyed looks on their faces. "I take it back, Ruby," Yang said with a smile, "Your luck may take you a little farther." Ruby playfully stuck a tongue out at the blonde, her rubber band gun drawn and aiming at the gymnasts' back, specifically.

"I told you it would work." Blake said, "I just didn't think your acting would be good enough." With a look of mock hurt, Ruby's shoulders dropped, "Oh, no-no-no, not like this. Want to talk about my acting, how about you two!" The yellow-and-black themed duo raised an eyebrow each before glancing at each other, Pyrrha and Nora moving to the side and allowing the victors to… Work this out… "You two made playing dumb look dumb!"

"It worked, didn't it?"

"It almost didn't! You would have blown my cover!"

Silver eyes went wide as she realized what just happened, the familiar rumbling in her stomach causing her to blush and grab it as all eyes looked towards her. Yang raised her eyebrows while Blake placed her hands on her hips, the latter opting to speak. "Unbelievable." She began with a chiding tone, "You ate so much for lunch, literally ate as much junk as possible with Yang's snacks all day and now you're that hungry, again?"

Ruby rubbed the back of her head awkwardly, "What can I say, right? But, uh… Dinner?"

Yang reached out and grabbed her younger friend by the hood of her jacket, pulling her forward into a headlock as she grabbed the black-themed teen beside her, doing the same. "You're right, dinner time." She turned the group away from the losing duo near the cars, "So, what do you girls want?"

Ruby and Blake both looked at each other and shrugged, the former starting to speak, "Well, we went out of lunch today, so… I guess it's whatever you two want, I'm fine with."

Yang glanced up and eyed the two girls behind her and bobbed her head around. "I think I've got a small idea…"

* * *

"Oh, this is good." Ruby said, taking a bite of her slice of victory. "You're right, Yang, it tastes even better when somebody else has to get it for you." Pyrrha and Nora both scoffed as the victors took their time, indulging in the pie before them. "Thank you, at least." She meekly said, noting the glares she was receiving.

"Can we please eat now?" Pyrrha huffed in annoyance, "you all had your fun, but we're hungry too!" She and Nora were forced to take everyone's order as the trio rested amongst the couches in the basement, the only one being remotely respectful to her patron was Nora, who waited on Ruby. Then, they had to make the call to the pizza place down the block and drive there. It was just one large pizza, which meant ten slices, which meant two slices for each girl. There was a small bread with it and for dessert (even though Yang had more than enough at home to eat, she just wanted to drive the price up a little. Also, she knew Ruby would get a kick out of it, too), a giant pizza-cookie was ordered, one that was the size of a small round pizza, only cut into five sizable pieces.

Yang shrugged at the annoyed inquiry, taking a bite out of her slice audibly, "Sure, why not? A loser can only suffer for so long."

"With the way their day's been going," Blake began, before taking a drink from her red can, "their suffering is going to be a lot longer than they'd like." She earned two soul-piercing glares but shot the look right back with a sassy smirk. "Don't look at me like that, I have to say, I'm disappointed. Thus far, I expected more of a challenge out of you all, and really the only one to oblige has been Yang."

The blonde playfully blushed and waved off the comment while Nora and Pyrrha across the table began to pick their slices. "Oh, please, Blake, you give me too much credit!"

"Yeah, you do." Pyrrha muttered, rolling her eyes and earning a chuckle out of Ruby. "Bet you didn't expect these two to get along so well, huh?"

The youngest shrugged easily, "Opposites attract, you know."

"They do, indeed. So, Yang, what were you all talking about before we got back?"

The blonde nodded before swallowing the molten cheese slice, washing it down with her soda on the table before beginning. "Well," She burped lightly, "I asked what they did when they go home together, at first, just because I was curious as to what they do together."

"And?" Nora piped, earning a glare from Ruby.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Yang quipped, "I'm happy to say that they don't do anything, or at least that's what they say."

Blake shook her head and interrupted, "We don't not do anything, Yang, we do homework together then Ruby works for the rest of the night."

Once again, the blonde nodded, accepting that she had been corrected. "Right, sorry, my bad. Well, next we were talking about our classes and that's when you two barged in, interrupting us."

"Oh, my, I'm just so sorry, Yang." Pyrrha said with intense sarcasm, rolling her eyes so hard they nearly rolled behind her head, "But we just can't know that we're interrupting a conversation when we're _outside of the house_! Next time, I'll be sure to call you and let you know to wrap up whatever your talking about before walking in!"

"Gee, would ya? That'd be great!" Pyrrha rolled her eyes in annoyance as the group giggled, Yang sitting back into the front of the couch, dropping the plate in her lap as she did so. "If you really want to get involved with the conversation, I say one of you two can go first."

Nora nearly jumped to her feet as the athletic teen beside her tried to understand what was happening now, zoning out as she grabbed her drink. "Oh! Oh! Pick me! Me, me!"

"Teacher calls on Nora Valkyrie for show and tell, today!"

"Yes!" Nora fist pumped with a smile before beginning, "Well, I know what you're thinking-?"

"Do you, now?" Blake interrupted with a sassy smirk.

"Yes, I do, and being a part of the restaurant isn't as far as I want to go." The group had their own varying looks of confusion and intrigue as the young chef caught their attention. "Don't get me wrong, and both Ren and I feel this way, but our parent's restaurant has been such a huge part of our lives and we would never give it up. But we also want to do so much more! I mean, Ren alone is just so skilled in other things beside cooking that we'd own the store, operate it within reasonable means and help whenever needed, but overall it's a well-oiled machine, enough so that we feel we can chase other dreams."

Her interest peaked, Yang set aside her plate and leaned in, setting her elbows upon her knees and her head resting on her hands. "And just what would that be, Nora?"

With a small smile, the short, orange-haired teen perked up, "Massage therapy. Ren and his family has taught me a lot about it and I think he and I could probably do a good job. We already know how to start and operate a business, all we need is the time and effort to put forth… But that's for the future. We want to at least get through a few semesters of college before even starting any of that."

"Patience is a virtue, Nora." Pyrrha admonished, "Good for you two for having goals."

"How about you, Pyr?" Nora instantly inquired, turning to her taller friend. "I know you were talking about something the other day."

The fiery-haired young woman blushed and shook the back of her head before turning away, surprising the group. It wasn't often that Pyrrha was genuinely embarrassed about something, let alone a career. What could be so bad?

"Well…" She began, awkwardly, "Thing is… I… Have a few things in mind."

"Like…?" Yang gestured her on with her hand, "Give us an idea!"

Pyrrha took a deep breath an slowly exhaled before beginning, "See, I've always had this gift for athletics. I've always been good at everything I do, and I enjoy the sports I play, but… I feel like I could do more. I mean, I tried out for the Vytal Festival competition and only was disqualified because I won't be eighteen by qualifiers. They have strict rules, you know." The group nodded, allowing her to go one without interruption as they knew she was getting somewhere. "As much fun as I have and as much as I want to milk my physical strength for everything it's worth, I know that there will come a day where I just can't go on, and I want to be prepared for that."

"What are you thinking?" Ruby asked, honestly, leaning back into the new couch behind her and bringing up her left leg to her chest, resting her chin upon her knee.

"I'd like to be a teacher." Was the honest reply, shocking the others, save for Yang. "I love working with the kids at the gym and they're always a load of fun to be around. When they have problems with school they come to me because they know they can trust me… I just feel like I can connect with kids enough and do some good, while keeping myself in shape on the side and participating in the games whenever I'm ready! Plus, there are so many feats of strength and I'm sure I can implement a workout in my lessons, just like those teachers do on the news all the time!"

Blake nodded and smirked, "I remember seeing something about that." She said, "A few teachers on all levels find ways to keep in shape and do some crazy stunt for or with a friend. What level would you teach at?"

"Elementary. Young kids are the easiest to mold. I just want to do some good work with."

"Very nice."

"How about you, Blake?" The athlete inquired, now choosing to go around the whole table. "I don't think we've even asked what you had planned for at Beacon?"

"Oh, it's okay." The bow-wearing teen admonished, waving off the notion. "I like writing and I like books, and if I had to choose anything in the world, I'd be a writer." She smiled at the thought, knowing it just wasn't possible in today's world. "But, in the same vain… I'm more into politics than a lot of people our age."

Lilac eyes blinked as their owner did a double-take, eyebrows raising slightly, even though Ruby seemed less surprised by that revelation. "Really?" Yang inquired, leading to a decisive nod by the black-themed guest.

"Yes, actually. See, growing up, my dad was a representative, an Ambassador, actually, so I was always around something politically motivated. Actually, he used my infancy as a way of getting the position."

"How'd that happen?" Ruby asked, knowing that bit of the story was true, but needing information for her own sake. Really, she just wanted to know more about her friend.

"He took time off after my mom gave birth and lost the chance to be in the cabinet for the new administration for my home's leader. When he came back, said leader- who was an old friend- put him into an ambassador to Vale. We bought a house on Patch, somewhere with a direct line to the ocean so he could take the ferry in and to work. That's how her and I know each other." She pointed to the red-themed teen beside her, "I lived a few doors down from her." Silently, the group nodded in some form of appreciation and approval, leading her to her next point. "And just pointing this out, I've never told anybody how my dad got his position, so."

"Boy, I'll say…" Ruby muttered, but it wasn't in spite.

Yang took over, next, with her own inquiry. "So, what's he do, now? Your dad, I mean?"

"Oh, he retired. He and my mom live on the east side of the country now, and while we were moving into our new house, I got the acceptance letter to Beacon. So I hurried here, found a place to stay and got everything worked out with the administrative staff, and in my hunt for a cheap apartment to stay at for a while, I found Ruby."

"It's almost like some bad plot out of one of those made for TV movies." Ruby quipped, earning a slug to her arm. "What? You were the one who said that!"

"I know, and I was going to say that again, you joke stealer!" Ruby rolled her eyes and shook her head as the groups giggles intensified, a sense of pride dwelling within, knowing that she had a part to play in their joy. "Anyway, just for that, I'm going to ask Yang what she wants to do when she grows up and jump past you."

Ruby playfully gasped audibly, reaching for a second slice, "You monster!"

"It's okay, Ru." Yang said, shaking her head, "You can have my turn, after all, you all know what I want to do."

"Hospital." All said in unison, save for Blake.

"Yup. Specifically, though, I'm still up in the air, about. But, I know for a fact that I want to dedicate my life to helping others in some way."

"That's a huge sacrifice, Yang…" Pyrrha said, as if she hadn't said it before. A million times. Over many years. To the point where Yang now gave her the death glare. "But, if you're up to it…"

"I am, you'll see." She retorted before turning to the youngest member of the group, who now dug into her second slice of the night. "You're turn, Ru. What're your plans after Beacon?"

The young teen swallowed the bite, washing it down with her fifth can of red pop before lightly burping, earning a small applause from her friends. "Ah, thank you, all." She said, pleasantly. "Well, to be honest… I'm just not sure." She shook her head lightly at the thought of a career, not even able to comprehend life outside of the academy… She wasn't ready to accept growing up, yet, but she knew deep down she passed that station a long time ago. "I take Engineering classes at Beacon, but only because I'm good at math. That was the school's recommendation for me when I first came here." Her eyes stayed locked onto the table, staring into space, mostly, "And even though I'm good at it, I'm not sure if I want my career to be engineering related…"

Yang raised her eyebrows and nodded at her friend's confession, surprised that it took so long to divulge this information. Though, for some reason, she knew Blake had something to do with it. "Really?" She asked, really asking for her to go on.

"Yeah, I mean, there's just so much I want to do! I'm just not sure, yet…"

"I see what's happening." Pyrrha said, rubbing her chin and calling attention to herself, "You're going through what everybody your age goes through. It's an existential crisis of finding who you are and what you want to do, and most people don't find out until College. The only reason we all know is because we either grew up in the field-" She nodded to both Yang and Blake, "- Or we learned it at Beacon. That's the Academy's job, in Ozpin's words. To get us ready for what we want to do with our lives, that way we don't waste our time in College and can go right for those degrees. That's also why the classes we take are seen as college credits to most institutions not only kingdom-wide, but worldwide. We know because we were prepared for it, but this is only your second year, so it only makes sense that you feel this way."

"It's true." Yang nodded in agreement, "When I was your age- all two years ago- I wasn't even sure if I wanted to be anywhere near a hospital. But as time went on I heard my calling. And Beacon helped me hear it. It'll take some time, but I guarantee, you'll hear it, too."

Ruby nodded, blinking a few times before finally speaking. "Thanks… I didn't realize it was… Such a generic problem, actually. That makes me feel a lot better, to be honest!"

"Right? And, hey, if it'll help, the Medical Wing gladly accepts all comers!"

"So, will the kitchen!" Nora cheered. Pyrrha and Blake also leant their support, though they didn't have definitive departments, yet. The former was just a gym-nut for right now while the latter didn't even know if hers existed yet. It had been a productive first week for her, but only on a social level. She still had a long way to go to unlocking the mysteries of Beacon Academy.

Ruby once again thanked everyone for everything and returned to her meal, but had something on her mind for a while now, and felt that this time was the best to inquire about it. Nobody had started any conversation, yet, not one that would lead to a full group discussion. Yang and Nora were talking about the concept of massage therapy while Blake and Pyrrha talked about teaching and the importance of literature to a young mind, understanding that sometimes it was better to be read to than to read at a young age.

"Yang?" Ruby whispered, seeing her chance. The blonde turned her attention to the young teen, who reached for a piece of the dessert: A still warm giant cookie, cut into five large slices. "Can I ask you something honestly?"

"Of course, what's up?"

Silver orbs stared into intrigued lilac eyes as the owner of the former nodded, "What's up with you and Weiss?"

"Why do you want to know?" Was the instant and harsh retort.

"I mean… I dunno?" Putting her plate down on the counter, silver eyes stared blankly at the clearly frustrated blonde, whose eyes seemed to twitch at the question. That question was out of nowhere and uncalled for, maybe even needing better timing. Regardless, she had to continue pressing on, merely for curiosity sakes. "I mean, you made me promise to stay away from Weiss and her friends, but I refuse to do that unless I have a reason as to why."

"Damnit, you little brat, we had a deal!" Yang angrily said, slamming her fists into the table, silencing all discussion and turning the group's collective attention towards the heated duo. "I set you free and you stay away from the ice-queen!"

"And I'm breaking the deal!" The teen instantly countered, "Seriously! I'll do what you want, I just want a reason. Please?"

"Because they can't be trusted!"

"Why not!?"

"Because I know, alright! Now that's the end of the discussion!" She closed her eyes, folded her arms and sat back down in a huff, her knuckles white with anger as she took a deep breath, sighing loudly. Ruby sat back, dejectedly, a sad look in her eyes. She wanted to press on, she needed to know, but for some reason her friend wouldn't budge! Lord knows Yang wouldn't stop pressuring her, no matter how mad Ruby would get, so why was she supposed to stop.

"Why are you being so difficult, Yang?" Ruby asked, sweetly, "I'm sorry if this subject isn't… You know, easy, but… You didn't have to yell like that."

Lilac eyes slowly opened, facing something she never wanted to see, let alone think about: Ruby brought her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, staring into nothingness as the others around them seemed to not exist any longer. All of the hostess' focus was on the youngest member of the group, whom she had always tried to be the very best and happiest towards and whom she just yelled at, unfairly.

"Oh, Ruby." She said, her arms slowly falling to her lap, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get frustrated at you or anything, it's just… I have a hard time trusting Weiss than I do anyone else… Hell, I'd trust my mother before I do that _bitch_."

"Yang." Pyrrha nudged with a sharp elbow. "If you can't be nice about it, then do you want me to explain it?"

The blonde shook her head after gaining her composure, still reeling from the jab to her ribs. "It's fine, I've got this." She assured. "Listen, Weiss and I… When we first met, we had a thing. We were… Really good friends and…" With a defeated sigh, Yang shook her head, hating to relive that day, "She stabbed me in the back. She hurt me, Ruby, and her friends laughed. There's a reason why I don't trust them and it's because they… Just, can't be trusted, okay? I just don't want you to get hurt like I did…"

Brunette hair hung in front of silver eyes as their owner slowly picked herself up, eventually brushing said hair away and straightening her vision out. "Oh, Yang." Admonished Ruby, who slid her way past Blake and closer to Yang, who maintained eye-contact with the young teen, all up until her hand was taken by the same girl before her, "You know why I know I won't be as hurt if anything could go wrong? Because unlike you-" Her grip on her friends' hand tightened, her eyes filled with honesty and hope as lilac orbs finally locked back unto her eyes, "- I have _you_ who will be there for me."

Lilac eyes turned soft as she began to reciprocate the grip, finally, smiling at the girl who pushed her body up to meet eye-to-eye with her. "Ruby…" Yang said, shaking her head with a never-ending smile, "That had to be the cheesiest thing I've ever heard."

"Really?" Ruby giggled, "Because I took it out of your playbook- Omph!" Quickly, she was swept into a tight embrace, met by the cheers of the trio around them. "I'll promise to be careful," Ruby said, turning her head so that she wasn't buried in the mountain of Yang and could be heard, "but you have to promise to give me a chance, okay? I want to work with Weiss… Please?"

Through reluctance, Yang nodded, patting her friend on the back, "Alright. I guess I owe you a shot at it, don't I?"

"Thank you…"

Nora, Pyrrha and Blake, each of whom had quieted down after a moment, all watched as the embrace prolonged past a minute, both of the girls seemingly enjoying each other's company. And, because they had gone past the minute mark, Nora was now allowed to institute the oldest of deal-breakers known to man. With a nod to the gymnast, then to the would-be writer (who was unsure of what the nod meant), the chef jumped to her feet and at the top of her lungs, called out: "Dog Pile!"

Both Yang and Ruby's eyes cracked open as they tried to break free, only they didn't nearly have enough time as Pyrrha tackled them both to the ground, eventually joined by a body-crushing dive by Nora. Yang, though, turned her body to protect the girl in her arms, taking the brunt of both impacts while Ruby lay, crushed beneath the added weight. Trying to wiggle her arms free, the teen cried out to her neighbor, her old friend. Surely, Blake would take her out and away from this mess.

She was sorely mistaken.

"Banzai!" Blake called, diving headlong atop the group, somehow able to wrap her arms around everyone while all present began to laugh at their own antics. The rule was set, long before even Ruby was initiated into the group, that anyone holding a hug for more than a minute was susceptible to a dog-pile, where anyone and everyone could get in on it, so long as nobody would get hurt. Though, like most dog-piles, everyone eventually gets hurt.

"Thank you, Nora!" Yang called with a hint of playful annoyance, "Only you could ruin a moment so sincere!"

"Oh, well!" The chef shrugged as everyone began to climb off of each other, first off checking to ensure nobody was seriously hurt, then everyone went into a laughing fit about their antics tonight. Ruby recalled the first night she spent here, the week after Homecoming the year prior, and feeling a welcomed sense of home. This group treated her like they did each other and made her feel so welcomed, and judging by the look on Blake's face, she felt the same. And that's all the teen could ever want; all of her friend's being friends with each other. That's why she wanted to work with Weiss so much, because she felt there was a chance for all of them to be friends and finally put this childish fight aside…

She hoped, at least.

"So!" Yang clapped, breaking the teen from her thoughts, "We've had some food in us, we've still got drinks… Now what do you all want to do?" The group glanced around at each other, everyone shrugging as they found each other's gaze. Nobody had an idea of what they wanted to do next, giving off the accurate impression that nobody had a set plan for the night, just the group's style: Winging it to victory! "It's alright," Yang assured, "We'll figure out something. We've got all night with each other!"

* * *

A bloodcurdling scream roared out of the speakers as the weedwhacker spooled up to full blast, cutting through the abdomen of the popular girl of the movie as she cried out in pain. This would be probably the most brutal thing the group has seen in a movie, if not for the fact that it was insanely corny, with a CGI weedwhacker and fake blood flying around, washing off the walls as if it was water… Hell, it was just water!

"Wow, Yang." Ruby sarcastically said, "I never thought a horror movie could leave me so bored."

Pyrrha pipped up next, "And she was saying you were the one who would break, first!"

"Right? Geez, give me some credit, why don't ya?"

Yang accepted all the smack that was being shot her way, knowing that she deserved it. They had all decided to watch a movie at about one o'clock, seeing as they had all gamed themselves out. They abused that zombie game to no end, even playing a party game that allowed for more than four players. Unfortunately, they just got burned out for the night, so they decided on a movie. Yang had multiple ideas that she thought the group would enjoy and when they said horror for fun, she instantly knew on that she heard of the week prior. It had good reviews all across the board, but…

Damn, did it suck.

The plot was basic: A group of snoody, arrogant, popular kids run off to a cabin for the weekend to get laid and have an orgy (it was never said, but that was implied, according to Yang). They pissed off a garden worker in town and that man was now- quite literally- cutting them down. Fun as it may be for plot to see a bunch of rich kids get sacked like that, at least to Yang, it was half poor-porn, half terrible movie. The girl that got cut in half now lied in one piece.

"Oh, come on!" The blonde cried, "That's not even possible! At least show me some guts!"

Ruby turned back to the blonde and smirked, "The only nightmare I'm having tonight is being forced to re-watch this." The group laughed, mostly at how phony the film was, but also at the comment that accompanied it. "I call a vote to kill this movie with fire and never bring it up again. All in favor?"

Everyone at once, even Blake, called: "I"

"All who oppose?" No words, "The motion carries. KILL IT WITH FIRE!"

Yang picked up the remote and began to curiously mash the buttons, nearly breaking it under the pressure of her fingers. "AHHH! DIE, DIE!" She cried, playfully, as her friends laughed at her antics, "You can't hurt anyone else, now." She huffed as the screen went black. "Seriously, I cannot explain how sorry I am. I never thought it was going to be that bad…"

"All of the reviews said it was good." Blake reasoned, leaning back in her seat with a sigh. She and Yang were seated on her massage chair, while on the couch against the wall, Nora and Pyrrha sat side by side and Ruby had her couch on the right side of the room all to herself. "We had no reason to believe something that corny could exist… geez, Ruby and I have seen scarier things when we were kids!" The young teen nodded, staring blankly into the off screen.

The group sat in disappointed silence for a moment. It was three o'clock in the morning, they were all gamed out and were disheartened by a poor display of film-making. Yang's true intention with the movie was to calm everyone down enough to put them to sleep, or at least get them ready for it. Needless to say, it worked, but not in the way she wanted.

The blonde stood up and stretched her muscles before glancing around the room. Nora and Pyrrha were having their own conversation about the "movie", Blake was currently watching her and Ruby had finally shaken herself back to reality and began to listen in on the conversation across the room, smiling as the chef's reigning insults of terror began. "Okay, girls," Yang said with a sigh, "Who's ready for bed?"

"Why not?" Pyrrha shrugged, "after that display, it'll be tough not to stay up." The group chuckled in agreement.

"Alright, well, grab your stuff and go get changed! I've got two bathrooms and my room you can use, so go ahead." Both Pyrrha and Nora nodded, standing up and walking to the bench press across he room where Yang placed everyone's bags. They took their duffels and walked up the stairs as Ruby finally sat upright, stretching her arms high as she did. "You know…" Yang said in though, "Who is taking my room?" Both teens glanced at each other and shrugged, Ruby breaking first.

"You can go ahead, Blake." She said with a wave, "I need a minute before I can move."

Placing her hands on her hips, the blonde smirked and stared down at her friend. "Comfy, eh?" Ruby smiled and nodded slowly, "Okay, Blake, it's yours. Ruby, if you want, while everyone is up there you can change out down here."

Before the raven-haired teen could respond, Ruby instantly stood up and clapped, shaking her head as she did so. "Oh-ho-ho! Nope, never mind. I'll go take her room." She said, maneuvering to grab her stuff. "Between the cops and Robbers earlier and that comment, I think you just want to see my unmentionables."

Lilac eyes blinked, the eyebrows above raising with confusion as she realized what the teen was saying. "What's surprising is that anyone uses unmentionables to describe underwear." The red-themed teen folded her arms and raised an eyebrow, forcing the hostess to rolled her eyes as Blake smiled at the duo's antics. "Fine, go ahead and do whatever you wanna do." With a firm smile, the young teen nodded and began to walk up the stairs, but an idea came to Yang, one that she knew would work. She winked at Blake before calling up the stairs. "If my computer screen has a glowing red dot on it, just move away off screen! The camera can't pan over automatically!"

" _Yang_!"

Ruby let it slide with an annoyed huff and walked away, leaving the disguised Faunus and the hostess to themselves. Blake looked up at her blonde friend and smiled, "You know…" she began with a small laugh, "I have known Ruby for a long time, and even when we were kids there was nothing I could do at to frustrate her the way you do now that wouldn't result in me getting slugged in the arm. I'm impressed."

"She would hit when she was a kid?" Yang incredulously inquired, causing Blake to nod with a confused look, "Man, something changed, because now, I can barely make her ball a fist… not like she ever needs to or was in a situation where it was warranted, but still, you get what I'm saying."

Blake nodded before standing up and stretching her muscles. She didn't have a problem changing in front of someone she knew, especially since she already had a few gym classes with the blonde already, what was the difference of doing it now then in the locker rooms? She walked over to the bench and grabbed her black string bag, digging within to pull out her favorite Yukata, which was an old, eastern-style short robe. Hers was a fluffy and comfortable black, per her usual style, which made it all the comfier to sleep in at night.

She quickly tore her shirt off and wrapped the robe around herself, tying it shut before removing her bottoms. She shoved both articles of clothing into her bag before turning to see that her hostess had already changed out, standing in just a yellow undershirt and black shorts. "Why go far for PJ's?" She said with a shrug, "Who cares about it, right?"

Blake smirked and shook her head, "I'm just glad you decided against sleeping naked tonight."

"Ah, I couldn't do that to you all." She replied, waving the thought off, "Between the crap I'd get from Pyrrha and Nora alone, it's just not worth it."

Blake nodded as the sound of a pair of feet came descending the stairs, only to reveal an aforementioned gymnast, her hair down, her clothes not nearly as revealing as her counterpart's. she wore plaid pajama bottoms that were various colors of red and white, with a pure red cotton t-shirt to go along with it. The athletic teen glance around the room and nodded, inquiring why all the stares.

"Welcome back." Yang said, you beat Nora and Ruby."

"Oh, I beat two of the slowest girls back down here. How surprising!"

Another pair of footsteps hurried down and stopped right behind the redhead, a short-haired brunette with red streaks in her hair stood in a pair of white pajama pants with little hearts on the leg and a sleeveless undershirt with a corgi face on the front, staring up at the girl who was currently ignoring her existence. "What was that about being slow? If I recall the tackle earlier today…"

"Okay, you two-" Yang interrupted, stepping in between the duo before they could work themselves up. "We've had a good day, lets not end it by antagonizing each other… NORA! ARE YOU DONE YET?"

"No!" Was the faint reply from the upstairs bathroom nearest to the basement, causing all present to roll their eyes.

"Geez, she can be infuriating at this." Yang huffed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Whatever, well just figure out who's sleeping where. You all know the rules… oh wait, Blake. Right. It's every girl for themselves, so pick wisely, first come first serve. And if _she_ -" she nodded upstairs- "has an issue…"

"She won't." Pyrrha assured. "I guarantee it." The blonde nodded and turned towards a familiar closet as Nora finally began to come back, dropping her bag near the couch as she hit the floor. The others worked out who was where, talking amongst themselves as Yang dug into the closet, picking up any pillows and blankets, just in case anybody didn't bring their own. Usually Nora and Pyrrha were pretty good about bringing their own bedding, it was Ruby that almost never did, for probably obvious reasons.

Yang began throwing around pillows to her respective guests as they all chose sleeping spots. Blake was on the ground in front of Yang's new, really nice couch, Pyrrha was on the floor in front of Nora, who was on the couch against the far wall as Ruby set up a spot on the floor in front of the final couch on the right-side of the stairs. This caused more protest from the blonde.

"Ruby, take the couch." She said, finally finding the last elusive pillow and fluffing it to an even cushion, "I'll sleep on the floor tonight."

The red-themed girl shook her head lightly as she sat down next to her pillow. She set herself up to be sleeping parallel with the couch, her pillow staying flat on the floor. "No, it's okay, you can take the couch."

"Host declares the order, and the order is you and Nora on the couch."

Blake piped up, "I thought you said _'Every girl for themselves'_." Yang scowled at her new friend as her words turned against her. "Just saying."

Pyrrha jumped into the argument, "Ruby, take the couch so Yang can shut up."

The teen stood… Well, more like sat, her ground, "No, I'm alright on the floor." Her defiance wasn't met with the best of reactions from the blonde.

"Well I don't care; you were on the floor the last time you were here. It's only fair." Despite Yang's words, she had no effect on her friend. "Alright, let's vote on it. Who says Ruby should be on the floor?"

"Who doesn't care?" Blake's monotone voice called the attention of the other occupants to raise their hands, which they all did with a giggle, even Ruby. "There, that settles it."

"It doesn't settle anything!"

"Just take the couch Yang!" Nora cried as the laid back on her couch, "You're making too much noise!"

"Not until Ruby gives up!" Yang, fed up with having the tables turned so quickly, approached her friend and grabbed Ruby by the collar of her undershirt, "Come on, sis, it's time for bed."

"Wai- What are-?! Let go!"

Pyrrha finally got annoyed and stood up, slamming a hand down on Yang's shoulder. Both girls stopped and stared at the gymnast, Ruby having more hope in her eyes than Yang, "You." She pointed to Yang, "Take the couch. You won't win. She's too stubborn." She turned to Ruby and pointed, "You. Take the floor and stay quiet, or else next time, you get to sleep on the couch with Nora." The chef waved with a sinister smile. Ruby went wide-eyed as she dove for the floor, burying her face to hide from Pyrrha's threat. "Goodnight all." The gymnast calmly sighed as she walked towards her bed. Blake chuckled at the display.

Yang slowly sat down, speechless at what had just occurred. Normally, her group wasn't so fussy over the sleeping order... In fact, normally Pyrrha would be on her side for this, but suddenly the tables have turned. She turned her attention back to Ruby as the younger teen slowly turned over, lying on her belly. The younger teen knew that the gaze of her friend was locked on to her, but wanted to avoid another confrontation or else… She shuttered at the thought, knowing Nora could be the most restless sleeper ever. Yang watched as the girl below her got comfortable and was curious to know how anyone can sleep like that...

"Fine." Yang huffed, "Goodnight everyone." The hostess inevitably sighed, laying back into her bed. She was met with no voices, no response as she threw her blanket over herself and set her head upon her pillow. Lilac eyes blinked around the darkened basement as the figures of her friends turned over, silence overtaking the room. Everybody shifted around, trying to find that sweet, comfy spot to take them into the realm of dreams, and for some it was easy. For others…

"Yang?" Ruby called, her voice muffled by her pillow.

"Hm?"

"Are you mad at me?"

"For what?" The blonde asked, peeking over the side of the couch and watching as the teen shrugged. She could imagine why Ruby would think that, but the girl knew that there had to be something massive in order for her to be hated by the group. With a smile and a light chuckle, Yang shook her head, "No, Ruby, I'm not mad. I just want you to be as comfy as possible in my house." She carefully leaned back onto the furniture, throwing her hands behind her head as she rested back.

"Ah, okay… Blake?"

The bow-wearing teen left her eyes closed, but still raised her eyebrows as she heard her name be called, "Yeah?"

"… What would you say if I told you I was hungry again?"

The group chuckled lightly at the comment as amber eyes blew open, their owner slowly sitting up and peering over to the teen, who hid her face into her pillow as she felt the sheer force of the gaze pierce her very soul. Yang once again peered down at her friend and rested her head upon her hand as she planted her elbow into the cushion.

"Well," The black-themed teen thought, "If I don't think I'd say anything…"

"O-oh?"

"Nope. Instead, I'd just drag you upstairs, tie you to a chair, shove a funnel down your throat-" Ruby's eyes went wide as she smiled, shrinking beneath her blanket as the group began to laugh in disbelief, "-And force all of the contents of Yang's fridge down your throat, just to ensure that you wouldn't be hungry for a while."

"Wow." Pyrrha said in disbelief, "Where did _that_ come from? I thought you were friends?!"

"Oh, we are." Blake retorted honestly, "But you have to understand where _I'm_ coming from: Today alone, she had a whole ham steak with fries at lunch, all of the junk snacks that Yang had for us, and two and a half slices of pizza _with_ half of that giant cookie. There should be no _freaking way in hell_ that she should be hungry. _At. All_. I went through heaven and hell to ensure that she was well fed today because _somebody_ slept through breakfast."

"That's what happens when I have paperwork!"

"Quite frankly, I'm done with her for the weekend." Her tone wasn't serious, in fact it added to the comedy. "I've fed you enough, you hear!"

"You can never feed me enough, that's the glory of it! Mwahaha!"

Yang shook her head, her eyes stayed glued onto the girl beneath her, in fact she hadn't moved at all since she originally got up. "Ruby…" She chided, "Are you hungry again?"

"No…" The youngest honestly confessed. "I just wanted to see what she'd say."

Lilac eyes rolled as the group found enjoyment with the antics, Blake throwing herself backwards in annoyance. "Good night, everyone." Yang said, definitively, laying back once again.

* * *

 **I just couldn't resist!**

 **So, what happened on-page was: The gang playing Pokemon Stadium, only massively updated to fit today's game, also going at it in a game of Cop's n' Robber's before sitting down for dinner and having a heart-to-heart about careers. Suffice to say that doesn't seem like much, but as you can see, quite the opposite. We ended with them all watching a poor excuse for a horror movie, and to be honest, that was based off a real thing my buddy had me and a bunch of friends of mine watch.**

 **Seriously, it was so bad that I had to give it a nod. As far as I know you can't find that abomination anymore. Jesus, that's a blessing in itself.**

 **What we didn't see was: The gang playing Rise of the Living Dead, which is essentially Remnant's version CoD Zombies (the only thing Cod has going for it now, let's face it), along with Mario Party (that one would have been 7k words on its own, let me tell ya), and a little bit of Smash before they finally settled on the movie, having been gamed out, which happens to us all.**

 **This was insanely fun to write though, honestly. I just wish I could have been a bit more timely with it, but you can't rush perfection, right… Or at least what I can pass as something resembling good?**

 **There was a lot that happened here. Not only did we see how rough the group likes to play, but we got a deeper look into Yang's despise of Weiss and her friends along with Ruby finally taming the blonde beast and promising she'll be careful. Not only that but we also saw everyone's plans for their futures, or what their vision is. Poor Ruby is facing the crisis that most high schoolers face today: Finding what she wants to do that will fit herself. Tough as that is, I think she'll find it sometime…**

 **Who surprised you the most this chapter? What did you enjoy about what we saw, and would you like to see something like this in the future? I think the farmer's almanac of Vale made a prediction of a snowy winter, which means that Yang is going to have a field day with events like these. My question is that, if Yang hosts parties like these, would you like to see them in full (which means that those chapters could get into the 20-25k word counts) or would you prefer a 2 or 3 part chapter, like we had here? It varies, depending on the day (storywise) but I do have at least 2 more of these get-togethers planned. Just food for thought.**

 **Should I think about it I'll make a poll, later.**

 **Anyway, that's it for this chapter. Let me know what you enjoyed the most, and please give me your thoughts on the future chapters. I'd love to know what you prefer.**

 **Until Next Time.**


	19. A night at Yang's pt 3: Walking On

**Boy, been a while, huh?**

 **So, I wanted to get this up after I realized that I didn't properly end the arc. Sorry about that. Also, this isn't to say that I'm going to be back on a proper schedule with this story, just a few updates here or there. Once again, sorry.**

 **I don't really know what else to say, to be honest. I'm just going to leave this chapter here for you to enjoy.**

* * *

The night slowly ticked by for the group of five, slumbering away after their day of fun. The only source of light came from the outside streetlights, while the only sound came from a familiar busty blonde, whose snoring could shake the rafters. She was currently on her side, facing the room while her right arm was at full extension outward, hanging over her young friend who slept on her stomach on the floor below. Across from them, their friends Nora and Pyrrha slept, the former on the couch, more graceful than her blonde counterpart whilst the latter was on her back, parallel with the couch, her arms over her stomach, peaceful as ever.

The only slightly conscious member was sleeping on the floor by the third couch in between the group, Blake. She could sleep, she knew it, but for some reason just couldn't cross the realm just yet. It had been an hour since they all called it a night and had been less than half an hour until the faunus was sure that everybody was asleep. Despite this, she just couldn't bring herself to close her eyes just yet, contemplating everything she saw, here.

Over her short life, she had been taught that humans and faunus were different, but the same. Different in terms of body, same in terms of mind. Then, everything she had every considered to know as fact was turned upside down, that humans and faunus were never similar and they were sworn enemies. She never believed that, as she was still forced to lie to keep herself and her family safe. Eventually, that lie began to manifest and it became the truth to her. For the last few years, she had believed that humans were eviler than faunus, and some of that carried with her today…

Maybe not _today_ …

This last week at school, she had made all human friends, and those humans were some of the nicest people she'd ever met. So accepting… Yet, she had lied to them. Blake had yet to tell them that she was a faunus and luckily Ruby had kept the secret, but how would the others react if she told them the truth? Probably confusion, fear… Maybe not so much fear, they seemed to be a very approving of faunus. These girls had been so welcoming that it once again changed her perspective again, and this time she knew it was for the better.

Though, perhaps a certain snoring blonde could use a perspective change, and not just with how she sleeps. Though, the noise did have something to do with it.

Ruby, over the last few days, had voiced concerns about Yang being very overbearing of a friend, and it showed. Whether or not it was because the brunette was the youngest of the group, or because Yang was just an oddity, but the way the blonde acted made it seem like she was trying to prove something, maybe compensating for something. One thing Blake noticed was how different Yang was in comparison to the rest of the group, clearly the blonde was being motherly, and maybe it had something to do with her own mother…

And all of this was probably why Blake was currently awake right now.

It was strange to see someone act in such a manner. When they were all kids, Velvet wasn't even that close to Ruby, and those two were practically inseparable. To see how Yang has been so motherly… was it even motherly, but seemed more than that…

…Was Yang in love with Ruby? It was a possibility, but… to be frank, Blake didn't know. She wasn't sure how other people showed or experienced or expressed love… she had only known _his_ way…

Blake shuddered at the thought, but a snort from the blonde caught her attention long enough to ease her mind from the memory. As she eyed the blonde, ensuring she hadn't been woken up by her own noise, she noticed a stirring from the figure below, beneath the blanket. Had Ruby finally been awoken, or did she just need the flip side of the pillow? It was so hard to tell with people who slept on their belly, Blake still didn't know how her friend could do it.

Yang's arm was still out to full extension when Blake noticed a shift in the blanket, one so drastic that it caught her full attention. Ruby suddenly rose to a kneeling position, shucking the covers off of herself and knocking her back right into Yang's forearm. The blonde retracted the limb and opened her eyes by the sudden impact, locking eyes with the brunette, all as Blake silently watched.

"Ruby?" She inquired, lifting her head off the pillow, her eyes quickly adjusting to the darkness. "Oh, you alright?"

The brunette didn't respond, her eyes dim and half-covered, causing concern for Yang. Instead, she rose to her feet and turned to walk towards the stairs, all while Blake and Yang watched. Lilac and Amber orbs met, the duo unsure of what was happening but curious to say the least. Perhaps this was a bathroom break? Maybe a midnight snack? A rustling from behind the couch alerted their averted attention, where Ruby was currently slipping her shoes on.

"What the hell?" Yang asked in a low whisper, jumping off of the couch, "what are you doing?"

"It's time for school, mom…" was the simple and cryptic response. Blake reciprocated Yang's action and jumped to her feet, maneuvering around the couch just in time to see the youngest of the group rise and begin marching up the stairs. "Where's my coat?"

"What the hell is she on about?" The blonde inquired, scratching the back of her heard as she watched in disbelief.

Blake furrowed her brow and took a step onto the first stair, "I don't know… Wanna find out?" Yang nodded, causing both of them to follow closely to their friend, but not before taking a glance back to ensure they hadn't woken the other guests. Luckily, it appeared that Nora and Pyrrha were deep sleepers, so they had that going for them.

Once at the top of the stairs, they saw Ruby turn the corner into the living room, as if she was going somewhere. She was standing up straight, which made this all the stranger. "Ruby! Wait!" Yang called, rushing past the bow-wearing teen beside her and catching up with her friend, tip-toeing as she did so.

"I'm ready to leave when you are…"

"Jeez, what's your problem?" She grabbed Ruby's right shoulder and spun her around, being met with no resistance. When Yang saw Ruby's face, she knew instantly what was happening, and when Blake caught up, she saw it to. Ruby's eyes were drooping, even fluctuating between open and closed, indicating that she indeed was not entirely there. "Is… Is she sleepwalking?" The disguised faunus shrugged, never seeing that before. Though, of course, she had read something on it.

"There's only one way to find out." She said, affirmatively, "We have to play the roll we've been given."

"Huh?"

"She's obviously dreaming that she's at home with her parents and that she's about to get a ride… Your voice is her mom's right now, so…"

"Play the part, got it." Yang nodded, understanding what she had to do. Hopefully, this could work, but she had never even seen someone sleepwalk before. Sleep talk? Sure, but no this… "Ruby…" She began, her voice definitive and strong, but quiet, as well. "You don't have to go to school today if you don't want to."

It was a start, but the slumbering teen didn't seem to fall for it. Even in her sleep, she was smarter than she looked. "But why would I stay? There's nothing to do and I'll be alone?"

Both teens glanced at each other, but Blake waved the blonde on, telling her to ad lib the whole thing. There was nothing they could do except try to reason and hope. Yang placed a calm hand on Ruby's forehead, trying to go a different route, "Well I don't want you to when you have a fever, a-and I won't go anywhere until it breaks, how about that?"

"But I feel fine…"

"Damnit…" Yang whispered beneath her breath, "Just… You've been working so hard lately and I think you've earned a break, and I'm sure your teachers will understand." With bated breath, both teens watched as silver eyes slightly opened, staring up into lilac orbs until the wannabe actress continued, "You can just stay and sleep, how about that?"

"Are… You sure?"

With both hands on the brunette's shoulders, Yang sighed in relief, knowing she had Ruby right where she wanted her. Blake did the same, knowing it was over and standing behind her younger friend, ready to catch in case she drops, finally. "I'm positive. Let's head back to bed, alright? My treat." Ruby nodded and leaned forward to walk, running right into the blonde's chest and showed no signs of stopping after collision. It was surprising to Yang and Blake that Ruby could ignore the blunt force in her way enough to actually begin pushing the former down the hall. "Oh, god, what should I do?" She whispered in distress, wrapping her arms around the still moving teen while firmly planting her feet to try and resist.

"Let's lead her back downstairs, we'll get her to bed down there, alright?" Blake reasoned, stepping behind the nurse in training. "Just keep facing her, I'll guide you down from behind." Yang nodded as the bow-wearing teen maneuvered around to her back and placed a hand over the long, blonde hair and in between her shoulder blades. "When I hold your left shoulder turn left, alright?"

" _My_ left?"

"Yes! _Your_ left, my right."

Now that the two were squared up, Blake began to play follow the leader and guided the duo down the hall and to the staircase with ease, her night vision coming in very handy. She made sure to keep her hand firmly placed on Yang while slowly stepping down, trying not to make any form of noise to alert the others below. They had been lucky so far and neither Nora nor Pyrrha noticed yet. Ruby was also playing along very well and not making much noise at all, up until she got to the bottom stair, where she near literally kicked her shoes off into the wall, creating a loud thud and causing both older teens to panic, grabbing the top of their heads before once again turning to ensure their friends had yet to wake up.

"Man, those two sure are heavy sleepers…" Blake whispered to her hostess, who nodded and wrapped her arms around Ruby. "Let's get her back to bed before another disaster happens."

"Agreed." Yang nodded, practically dragging Ruby away, now. Blake observed with interest as the younger girl seemed to coo, her feet unable to lift themselves as her body opted for a deep rest. Finally, too. "All right, time for bed…" yang whispered, as not to disturb the others. At the words, Ruby perked up and practically threw herself onto the couch, breaking away from the nurse in trainings nearly iron grasp to the surprise of all conscious. Lilac eyes turned with a stunned look to meet amber orbs beyond the couch, the owner of the former shrugging in confusion. "I mean… I knew she wanted the couch deep down…"

"Well," Blake mimicked the shrug, her voice still low as she approached Yang. "She may have thought it was her bed, since it's about as high as hers is, now…"

"You've seen her bedroom?"

"Uh… yeah? Why?"

Yang nodded and squinted her eyes with intrigue, causing the Faunus to worry, "Alright… I… never mind, it can wait." She waved it off and picked up the comforter she once used, throwing it over the slumbering younger teen, who was now face down into the soft, golden pillow, ensuring that her friend wouldn't get sick from sleeping without warmth. Afterwards, the blonde easily jumped to the floor and set herself up on her back, easing her head into the faded red pillow behind her. Blake watched as the motion was so easy for her, then she glanced around the room and considers that this is probably her best chance to catch some sleep.

"Yang?"

"Blake?" The blonde whispered back, lifting her head as she fussed with the blanked, trying to get comfortable.

"If there's any more problems with the walking red behind you, let me know, okay?"

The hostess giggled and covered her mouth, repeating the quip the new girl just made. "Walking red…" she sighed, "I'm going to use that later."

"No, you won't." Blake instantly fired back. "Dibs."

"Damnit!" She snapped in defeat, accepting the loss. Dibs was like shotgun, once it was called, it had to be honored no matter what. Blake made the joke, she had every right to keep it for herself. Probably for the best, too, as that would definitely be something Yang would abuse, whether or not it was treated as an inside joke.

Blake smirked slyly before stepping back into her space on the floor, examining the rest of the room which was still dark, but barely lit by the street lights outside, and laid back into her pillow, intent on getting some sleep as both Pyrrha and Nora had done for last hour plus.

"Mom?"

Well, she tried, at least.

Yang jumped at the faint call from the couch beside her, still playing her role in this theater and meeting the dim silver eyes of her friend before glancing back at the group, only seeing one pair of familiar bronze orbs staring at her. "Yeah, hun? I'm here." Blake gave a thumb's up, hearing the light whisper.

"Why did you leave?"

Blake froze immediately. Did Ruby just seriously say that? Oh, god, she must've been wanting to ask her mom that since she died, and since she thinks Yang is her mom in her dream right now…

 _'How did I not see that coming?!'_

Yang turned back and shrugged the black-haired teen behind her, who shook her head and rolled her hand around. "Uh, what do you mean?" Well, it was something, but that also could be very, very bad…

'Damnit!'

"You left and didn't come back… Where did you go?" Ruby replied, lifting her head from the pillow.

Yang, put in an unfortunate position, rubbed the back of her head and sighed. Clearly, Ruby's mom took a lot of time away from home, and this must have been something that bugged her as a kid. "Okay, well, uh… I just, you know, worked a lot, and that took me away from you. I'm sorry, hun…" She turned and faced Blake, who looked panicked and mouthed a 'sorry' to her. Yang smirked and shook her head, not even wanting an apology. How do you prepare for something like this, anyway?

"Oh… I see… Are you… Home now? For good?"

With a small smile, Yang nodded, her gaze now locked onto the heavy-lid silver eyes before her. "Yeah, I'm home, now. Go to sleep, we'll see each other in the morning." Ruby nodded, her head dropping into the pillow hard, her eyes closed and hopefully for good for tonight. Yang chuckled and shook her head, glancing at the others around her, two of whom where still very much asleep, or maybe faking it very well. Blake, however, was holding her chest and exhaling heavily, yet silently. "Crisis averted. Wasn't a total lie, right?"

"Right… Thanks, Yang."

The blonde waved her off again and leaned back, "Ah, don't worry about it. Now get some sleep, because the morning will be coming fast."

With one final glance at her neighbor, the disguised faunus nodded and agreed, her face stoic with a sense of determination. "Yeah, it will."

* * *

 _It was… Cold…_

 _Not too cold, not much more than a light jacket was needed, but still, there was a chill in the air and a heavy fog along the ground._

 _She walked on, following a path of street lamps that she was sure was connected to a road or a path of some kind. The street lamps above were her only source of light, as the world around was shrouded in darkness- without even the light of a moon above- the sound of her footfalls echoing around and fading away. She didn't think, she didn't even begin to know where she was or how she got there, but she knew she was somewhere._

 _She didn't even have her usual clothes. Instead of red and black leather, she had something that she had only seen in magazines and newsprint and even some movies; A bright red two-piece set with white hearts covering the entirety of the clothes, yet she still was unable to tell just what it was called, but she knew hospital workers wore them… Hell, she'd seen Yang wear it once at a blood drive at school… What did she call them?_

 _Scrubs… She was in red scrubs with white hearts decorated all over… But no shoes. Not even socks…_

 _Where was she going? The farther she walked, the more awake she became, beginning to look around, but still didn't stop walking. Just, where was she? What was happening? It seemed like the answer to both was the same: Nothing…_

 _After another minute of walking she began to hear a voice… A familiar voice, one that was feminine and mature, or at least close to being mature. It was easily recognizable, as not many people sounded like her. It was Pyrrha, but… Something was off… Her friend sounded hurt, maybe in distress? She glanced around, but the only light she had was on the path every twenty feet, or so. The rest was foggy darkness. In fact, she didn't even see the ground below her, that was covered in heavy mist, as well._

 _However, she could smell something… Sharp… It was a metallic stench, one that made her queasy. It was oddly familiar, too, like the smell you get when you have a nosebleed…_

 _It that what blood smelled like? She pondered as she walked on, the voice pleading for her growing louder and the stench intensifying as she walked on the path, but she noticed that the fog began to recede, a little, allowing her to see a cobblestone path. Along the path in front of her were drops of blood. At first there were only one, maybe two drops per stone, but then it became a long line of steady, thick red liquid, then a pool, until finally the mist went away with a gust of wind, revealing…_

 _Pyrrha Nikos… But, not the Pyrrha Ruby wanted to see… Ever._

 _She was on her back, her hand over right hand over her chest and her left hand shaking on the stone path, blood beginning to pool out of the cracks in the road as she writhed in pain under another lamp, all before Ruby's eyes._

 _"R-Ruby…" The dying teen called out, reaching her bloodied right arm to full extension with fear and sadness in her eyes._

 _"Pyrrha!" Ruby cried, rushing to her friend's side, tucking her left arm behind her head and lifting the badly injured girl's upper body, her right arm wrapping around Pyrrha's abdomen in order to provide extra support. "Pyrrha, what happened?"_

 _"Help me…"_

 _Those words… So pitiful, so sad, so helpless… Unlike Pyrrha at all, who was so strong and independent… "Wha-? How… What do I do?" Ruby pondered aloud, worried over the condition of her friend as it worsened. More and more blood began to pool around them as more blood seemed to come out of the gaping chest wound, but Ruby didn't know what was happening, nor did she know what to do. Given that, she didn't even have the materials to help._

 _"Help…"_

 _Tears began to well in her eyes and a sense of panic set in. Ruby covered the wound with her hand and applied pressure, but that only made more blood come out. She pressed harder and harder, but it was no use. Pyrrha began to choke on her own blood as her organs failed, and with deep, pleading emerald orbs, she gazed into Ruby's soft, glassy silver eyes and grabbed the younger girl's hand._

 _"P-P-Pyrrha?"_

 _"Why… w-won't you… help?"_

 _"I-I don't know what to do… Pyrrha, I'm so-"_

 _"I don't want to die…!"_

 _"You won't, I promise!"_

 _Emerald orbs turned stern and angry as the glared daggers into the soul of the girl looming above, the owner's face turning hateful, grinding her teeth before a nearly demonic voice boomed out: "Don't make a promise you can't keep, little girl."_

 _She heard that before… That was something the matron used to her before…_

 _Another set of footsteps appeared behind Ruby, heels clicking along the ground, causing her to turn. Some help, hopefully! Maybe Pyrrha would be okay! Her hopes were dashed quickly, though, as the figure behind her quickly came into the light of the lamp and revealed a familiar face with white, curly hair, standing high above, no matter how straight Ruby would ever stand._

 _It was Salem… The Matron of the orphanage… All she did was smirk devilishly, glance at Pyrrha- who stared with pleading look in her eyes- and shook her head with three audible tisks. "You never_ could _do anything right…" She grabbed Ruby's short, brunette hair and yanked the girl away, forcing her to her feet and dropping a suffering friend to the ground as Pyrrha choked on her own blood. "Now, see what your failures caused!"_

* * *

With a rush of energy and a racing heartbeat, Ruby jumped to a sitting position on the couch, her silver eyes wide open and tear-filled as she tried to catch her breath. Glancing around, she saw a relatively familiar space with tan carpeting and two other couches around a TV, with multiple blankets and pillows strewn about, but no other occupants. At least, that's what she thought until she heard footsteps from the staircase beyond one couch.

Throwing the covers of f of herself, Ruby was committed to finding Pyrrha making sure that gymnast was okay. That dream was all too vivid, she could smell the blood and feel her own tears. She just wanted to make sure that Pyrrha was okay, but by the time she made it to the stairs, she was blocked a familiar raven-haired teen.

"Ruby, hey!" Blake greeted with a sense of relief, and it showed for a moment, until the disguised faunus noticed just how flush her friend was and saw the glazed look in her eyes. "Woah, hey, are you okay?"

"Pyrrha." Was all the panicking teen could say, trying to get around Blake, "I need to see Pyrrha."

"Hey, hey, whoa," Blake quickly put the kibosh on that plan, wrapping her arms around the teen's shoulders and raising her eyebrows, "Calm down, take a deep breath, alright?"

"Blake, move!"

"No!" Amber eyes looked determined into concerned silver orbs, whose owner blinked at the stern words before shaking her head quickly. "Calm down. Deep breaths." Her stern demeanor yet calming words seemed to have some sort of affect over Ruby, who did as she was told and took a few deep breaths, inhaling and exhaling slowly to calm her heart rate. The shorter brunette shook her head before opening her eyes and glancing up at her friend. "What's wrong?" Blake finally asked, knowing that there was an issue. How could there not be, after that display just now.

Ruby struggled for a moment to find her words, but figured out what to say, eventually. With Blake, she just had to be honest. "I… I… I had a dream… Just now, alright?"

"Okay…?"

"It… Pyrrha was dying… In my arms… I just need to make sure she's all right. Where is she?"

Blake sighed and shook her head with a small smile, grabbing both of Ruby's shoulders in the process before bringing her neighbor into a tight embrace. "You just missed her." The faunus said with a sigh. "Nora got called in and you slept through their whole departure."

"But she's-"

"She's tired, but she's fine. She's going home to do whatever homework she had, okay?"

With a deep sigh, Ruby finally reciprocated the embrace and nodded, "Yeah, it's fine… Thanks." The two shared their moment for a moment longer before a door closing up the stairs and another opened broke their attention, a wolf-whistle soon followed from a familiar blonde at the top of the stairs.

"Well, well!" Yang quipped with a smirk, "That's a great way to start a morning, eh, Ru?" Ruby blushed and stepped back as the hostess slid down the handrail and landed on her feet, placing a hand on her hips before examining both the stern look from Blake and the nervous look from Ruby. "What? Is something wrong?"

"Yeah, you ruined the moment." Blake quipped with a smirk that rivaled the blondes.

"Oh-ho, did I? Oh well, sorry. Maybe next time you two won't share a moment with a third wheel around? You know _that's_ quite rude."

"So's ruining the moment that you played the third wheel to, Yang." Ruby fired back under her breath, causing the blonde to raise an eyebrow.

"Oh! Sass at seven in the morning! Isn't that a pleasant surprise?" Ruby and Blake both rolled their eyes and walked back to their original spots, the former, though, taking a second to stare at the couch, then glanced back at Yang, then the couch. "Something wrong, Ruby?"

Blake noticed how strange her friend was acting but observed silently, taking a seat on the massage-couch as the brunette spoke up. "Uh, yeah, it's just… Didn't I sleep on the floor last night…?" Now, both Blake and Yang had a chance to glance at each other, both knowing that they had been caught. "How did I end up on the couch? You didn't move me in my sleep, did you?!"

"No! No, no! Nothing like that, honest!" Yang quickly said with wide, lilac eyes, hurrying to defend herself. "It's just that, uh, well… Blake?"

Ruby turned her attention to her neighbor, who rolled her eyes and leaned into the arm of the seat, "Ruby," She began, calmly, "Have you, in the time since we've been apart from each other, had an issue with sleepwalking before?" The inquired shook her head and furrowed her brow, confused at the question. "I see." Yang maneuvered around the younger teen and sat atop the comforter, picking up the pillow alongside her at the head of the couch and lightly hugging it. "Well, then last night was a new adventure for you."

"Wait, what?"

"You were sleepwalking, Ruby." Yang bluntly said, offering the seat beside her to her friend. "About an hour or so into the sleep, you stood up, bumped into me and Blake and walked up the stairs, saying it was time for school. You even thought I was your mom."

"Wha-? Really?" The teen was clearly flustered but tried to play it off, to some varying success. "What did I say?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary," Yang shrugged, "Just it was time for school and Blake and I had to lure you back to bed, but you crashed on the couch." Ruby's blush deepened as she turned to her neighbor, who nodded in confirmation. "You also said asked something about… Something along the lines of: 'Why did you leave?' or 'Why didn't you come back?'."

"I… I did?" Yang nodded, causing Ruby's muscles to stiffen, visibly anxious over the revelation. "I… Didn't wake anybody else, did I?" The other two shook their head, causing her to sigh in relief. "Good, I'd hate to see what they could do to me if they knew about this…"

"Oh, trust me, they would be the least of your concerns." Ruby raised a brow silently at the blonde's retort, causing lilac orbs to turn to Blake and eventually, the former followed the gaze, as well. "Wait until you hear this."

Blake shook her head, feeling the curious and objected gazes "In time, Yang." She said, easily.

Ruby, however, started to get impatient and confused, worried that the two know something, or that she said something wrong and got herself in trouble, or worse: Embarrassed herself to Yang. "Guys? What are you hiding?"

"Oh, nothing." The bow-wearing teen chirped with a giggle, "We're not hiding anything, except keeping the Walking Red away from Pyrrha and Nora." It took Ruby a moment to glance at both girls, whose giggles softly intensified by her ignorance to the joke. After a moment, silver eyes blinked and their owner sighed with a deep blush, understanding that she had been made the butt of the joke.

"Oh, geez, guys!" Ruby whined, burying her face and sitting back in the couch as the two older teens erupted in laughter. "It's bad enough you got me sleepwalking, now you're giving me nicknames, too?!"

"Of course!" Yang chided, collecting herself, "It wouldn't be us if we didn't! But don't worry, the others won't know anything, we promise."

"Gee, I hope not." Ruby said with a relieved sigh, bringing her knees to her chest and sitting back into the couch, trying to bury her feet and keep them warm. "The last thing I need is for Pyrrha to know any of this. My god, I'll never hear the end of it!"

"Implying you'll hear the end of it with us." Blake countered, leaning back into her seat and stretching her muscles outward. "Pyrrha is the least of your concerns, now."

"Pfft, don't remind me." Ruby hid her reddening face and leaned further into the couch, hoping that the cushion would eventually turn into a portal to an alternate universe where that never happened. But, alas, no use. "But you two aren't that bad. You know when a joke has been beaten to death."

Yang nodded and smirked, placing a caring hand on her younger friends' shoulder. "And lucky for you, this one is primed and ready for a beating!" Ruby audibly groaned and leaned forward, causing both to chuckle, but Yang wanted to take the coming silence to ask a question, one she'd needed an answer to since last night. Hopefully, Blake didn't have anything to add, because something that Ruby both said and did caught her attention and not in the best of ways.

Once the last chuckle fit had ended, as if on cue, silence overtook the room. Yang took this time to her advantage and nudged the pajama wearing teen beside her. "Hey, come on," She egged on, "We won't be so bad."

"Speak for yourself."

"Okay, I won't be so bad, Blake will be sassy though." Amber eyes glared daggers for a moment, but their owner knew that, in all actuality, Yang was right. The blonde returned her attention to silver orbs that were blankly staring, waiting for another joke, but it never came. Instead… "Can I ask you something, Ru? About something you said last night?"

Ruby took a minute, eyed Blake in a way that spoke that she was asking for help, but the disguised faunus couldn't do anything to stop this. Ball was in her court and she knew she was more than welcomed to say no. "I… Guess? You'd have to refresh my memory."

"Sure. Like I said, I played the role of your mom in your sleepwalking, and you asked me why I left… What did you mean?"

Silver eyes blinked before going wide, a look of surprise on her face. Yang said she heard that but Ruby had hoped that she wouldn't have touched that subject just yet. She knew exactly what it meant, and it had something to do with…

Her…

"Well…" She tentatively began, bringing up her knees to her chest and sitting back in the couch. Both older teens eyed each other curiously, Blake wondering just how her friend would recover from this. "See, it could be because when I was a kid, and my mom worked at the hospital, she would leave at random times… I'm sure you know what that is like."

Yang shrugged easily, "Kinda? My dad normally didn't get called in unless it was an absolute emergency. He liked spending more time with me, as much as he could, you know?"

"O-oh, I see. Well, she got called in a lot and… It hurt. One day, when I was little, I stayed up for as long as I could and when she got back, I asked her why she left. I knew what she did was important, but…"

"Nothing's as important as spending time with family." Yang interjected, "I think I can understand." Ruby sighed, happy that her story could hold over for a while longer. It wasn't exactly a lie, but it wasn't nearly the truth, either. She was just happy she got away with it for right now, and she knew she did since Yang was checking for the time. "Welp, girls, it is very early for a Sunday… What do ya wanna do?"

Both red and black-themed teens eyed each other and shrugged, the former opting to speak on the behalf of both. "What else can we do that we haven't already done?"

"Well-?"

"That's PG-Thirteen, Yang." The brunette deadpanned, though the hostess didn't seem to lose composure or resolve.

The blonde clapped with an audible laugh, "Still plenty of options!" She said, causing her younger compatriot to blush, "You played yourself, kiddo!"

* * *

The clock struck eleven and the trio had just about had it for a weekend. Ruby and Blake had changed out into their new clothes and packed their bags for when they wanted to leave, they didn't have to do anything. It would be all set up for them.

Still, the trio was puzzled. They didn't have much to do that wouldn't take up a whole lot of time, and all three were still tired from their late night and early morning shenanigans, and with Taiyang's imminent arrival, the group decided that the best course of action was to just kick back and relax. They all played a racing game split-screen and jokingly insulted each other for their luck and misfortune, but it was all in good fun.

At eleven, well after Taiyang had returned home and retreated to his bed for a rest, Ruby and Blake determined that it would be best for them to leave as not to run the risk of disturbing the hostess' father. Yang, reluctantly, agreed and followed the duo out.

"Well, Blake?" Yang whispered halfway up the stairs, "What did you think? Like the group you're with?"

The bow-wearing teen nodded with a smirk as she made it to the top of the stairs. "You're all an interesting bunch. Thanks for the fun night."

"Interesting, huh? Well, it can't be helped." Yang shrugged, "Though, I'm gonna try and move away from 'interesting' and into something else, something with a more friendly connotation."

"Something tells me that would be easy." Ruby quipped, heading into the garage. The older teens followed suit and out into the real world, where the sun was trying to peak through a light cloud line. "This was fun, Yang. Let's do it again, sometime."

"Yeah, next time we'll raid your apartments!" Both girls gave the blonde a deadpanned look, causing her to retract her comment, "Okay, fine, we'll do something else, then." The duo happily nodded in agreement and walked back to the black, beat-up car behind them. Stuffing their bags in the back seat and maneuvering to their respectful positions. Blake as driver and Ruby as passenger.

"Well, that was… Interesting." Blake commented, turning her car over. She waved to Yang one last time before backing down the drive, her passenger giving a small wave to her former hostess as well. "Not at all what I was expecting out of you all."

"What did you expect?" Ruby inquired, quizzically as she fastened her seatbelt. "A bunch of teen girls sitting around the bed, talking about boys and having pillow fights?"

"With Nora in the room? That doesn't sound like the best move…"

With a raised brow, the passenger smirked at the comment and chuckled, "No, it is not. Hence why we don't do it. Did you at least have fun?"

"Genuinely, yes. I was being honest when I said that back there, too, you all are an interesting bunch, that's for sure." She said, putting the vehicle into drive and maneuvering down the slim street. She remembered how she got here and just how to get out, as well. She noticed how quiet her friend was being and decided to push. "Penny for your thoughts?"

"How about a buck?"

"How about I'm giving you a ride home _for free_?"

"Oh, I see."

"Come on, somethings on your mind."

Ruby sighed and shook her head, "Yeah, a few things. I've got a ton of things to do when I get home."

"Ah, all that homework, eh?"

"What? No, I do that before I leave for these, usually. Sometimes I stay all into Sunday night. No, I have laundry, I have to check in with Neo…"

"And it's not even noon."

"Keep laughing, Blake, one of these days you'll understand."

"I hope not… That's not the only thing on your mind, is it?" By Ruby's reaction, Blake realized that she had gotten her friend backed into a corner. She knew, too, it had been the thing eating at her friend since they broke the news to her.

"No, that's not it…" Ruby deadpanned with a heavy sigh. "Can I be honest?"

"I'd be offended if you weren't."

"This whole sleepwalking thing has me all turned around… Honestly, I'm afraid I may have blown my cover… Pretty embarrassing to know how far I got, too. It almost turned into disaster real fast."

"Nah." The driver shook her head with a smirk, "I was having a tough time sleeping so, had Yang not woken up, I'd have gotten you."

"Why didn't you two just wake me up?"

"And run that risk? Okay, sure. Ever heard the old saying 'Never wake someone up when their sleepwalking'?"

Ruby shook her head and smiled softly, closing her eyes as she did so. She knew the answer was true, though she didn't care. Whatever aftereffects were to be had, she would gladly take them if it meant she didn't embarrass herself further. Oh well, at least it was Yang. "Hey, Blake?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for covering for me back there… With your story?"

The faunus waved off the notion as she blew through every green light possible, her luck never seeming to end as the lanes before her were clear and the timing was perfect to where she barely had to slow down before the red lights turned. "I scratch your back." She said, pointing her bow, "You scratched mine."

* * *

Ruby walked down the hall of the third story of the complex, alone. Blake kept downstairs near her car, saying that she had to do something, but wouldn't disclose just what. Needless to say, she was acting odd, but then again, after finding a friend sleepwalking, who wouldn't be acting weird?

With a heavy and exhausted sigh, Ruby closed her door and rested her head upon the plank once it had clicked shut. As much as she wanted to stay true to her words and take a nap, but she just had too much to do. First and foremost, she had laundry. Then she had to meet with Neo, then she had to do her homework and then if she was lucky it'll be nighttime and she can just go to bed for the night. For some reason, she felt disappointed at an odd, but all too familiar silence… Almost as if she was expecting something, but she didn't know what. Or who.

Shaking herself free of that thought, she returned to her current dilemma. It wasn't that she didn't get a lot of sleep last night… Or this morning, really. She slept great and felt fine, but was nervous to know about her escapades the night prior. Just how long had she been doing this? Maybe Neo would know the answer, if there even was one? At least Blake was there to stop her from blowing her cover. The duo surely had a symbiotic relationship now where they are covering for each other's stories.

… But just how much of a lie was Blake's? She went off and told as much of the truth as she could without outing Ruby… It wasn't fair to make the faunus lie like that, just to cover for her, and Ruby knew that. It was easy to ask Velvet and Coco to do it, they were used to it, but Blake?

She shook the thoughts free, trying to rid herself of the guilt and finally picked up her backpack again after another few moments of rest and staggered into her room, flipping on the light after noticing a familiar darkness. She must have closed the curtains before… Wait, no she didn't? She left those wide open all weekend. Once her eyes adjusted to the light, she noticed three crucial things instantly:

First, her bed was made, neatly and cleanly. Her pillows were all centered at the head of the bed with a note on it. On the other end at the foot of her bed, lay a stack of books and papers alongside a basket filled with folded clothes and towels, which let her see for once just what color her carpeting was under her feet. Someone cleaned up for her, and the marks in the floor indicated that somebody vacuumed, too. But who? And why?

Perhaps the note could answer these questions.

Dropping her bag to the floor, she rushed to her pillow where a loose-leaf piece of paper sat, waiting patiently with writing literally all over it. Picking up the paper, Ruby stood beside her bed as she quietly read to herself.

' _Dear Ruby,_

 _I hope you all had fun last night. I wanted to see you off, but I wasn't able to do so. I decided to give you a helping hand and I did your laundry for you. Seriously, you need to clean your room up a little more, that mess was ridiculous._

 _Also, I took the liberty of refilling your fridge for you. You can thank me later._

 _-Neo._

 _P.S. Since the banking is done, you're clear to work for today. I'll be up later to check on you._

With a small smile, Ruby shook her head and set down the note, picking up the basket and setting it on the ground at the foot of her bed, intent on putting the clothes away after a quick power nap. All the while thinking just how fortunate she was for her friends.

* * *

Lilac eyes woke up to the noise of the doorbell, a loud set of footsteps quickly approaching the door. She rubbed her face before turning over to see her alarm clock, noting the time. She had a Ruby-style powernap (as she liked to call it, merely out of jest) at about noon, and felt pretty refreshed. Ruby always said there was a reason for her naps after school, that must have been it.

She heard more footsteps walk in while voices stayed quiet, presumably to ensure that she doesn't wake up. Too late, of course. Sitting up in her bed, Yang calmly exhaled and began to focus her mind before hopping to the side of her bed, exposing her legs and allowing bare feet to hit the floor. Usually, her sleeping attire consisted of nothing, but today was different for all sorts of ways. She was dressed in the same attire that she wore this morning when her friends were still over: A yellow tank that left her midriff exposed and still allowed her to show off her assets, while a black bottom accompanied her.

She heard the murmurs and clamber of feet softly move away from her room, the scooting of chairs on tile was what followed next, leading her to believe that the guests had made their way to the kitchen. Who could this be, unannounced on a Sunday morn… Afternoon? Well, only one way to find out.

Yang rose to her feet and stretched her muscles, smiling as all the feeling of tired left her body and her bones and joints popping under the pressure. After this, she should go and work out, she's loose enough for it. Once ready, she turned towards her door and walked out into the brisk hall. Something in the back of her mind told her to go put more clothes on, but she pushed those thoughts away. Whoever it was would have to live with the fact that she was comfortable with what she was. As she walked out of the hall and into the family room, she saw the backs of two oddly familiar people, instantly knowing exactly who was here.

Walking out, she met the familiar eyes of her father, his face softening at the sight of her while the two guests draped in black slowly turned to face her. Both the man and the woman had red-eyes, the man had a light beard that put Taiyang's to shame, while the woman with long, black hair and a red bandana keeping her hair back. The man smirked and nodded, while the woman turned away.

"Hello, sweetheart." The red-eyed man greeted, "Sleep well?"

"Well enough." She smiled back, offering the man a hug from his seated position, "How're you doing?"

"I'm fine, dear, just fine." He replied with a smile as Yang bent down to embrace him for only a moment before standing tall again, ignoring the woman seated to her left.

"So, what's with the super-secret illuminati-esque meeting?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Qrow quipped, only to be stopped by the doctor across the table. "What? I'm just joking."

"I thought you said she _wasn't_ going to be involved, Tai?" The black-haired woman inquired with a hint of annoyance, though Yang shrugged it off and walked to a seat at the end of the table, dropping herself in and forcing herself into the conversation. Her place or not, something that involved her mother and uncle and father needed to involve her now.

"It's okay, Raven." Taiyang reasoned carefully, "She's right, though, my original intent was to do this while you slept, but I can see that's no longer an option. Besides, it might be best if she knows."

With a confused glance around the table, the blonde slightly shook her head and leaned back in her chair. "What do you mean? What's this about?"

The question was directed towards the two guests, both shrugged while Qrow spoke first, "Gotta ask him. He brought us here." Now, more intrigued than ever, Yang turned her attention towards her father, who looked physically stiff. The blonde man was silent for the most part, seemingly finding his words to describe his intentions.

"Yang." Tai admonished, "Your friend, Ruby, did she… Seem familiar when you first met?"

"What do you mean?" Yang asked in confusion. What the hell kind of question was that? When she met Ruby last year, all she found was a new friend. She couldn't recall any feeling that they may have known each other… "No, she didn't seem familiar. She just seemed like a shy kid who needed a friend. Why?"

"Well, it's just… Uhg, how do I put this?"

"With the truth, Taiyang." Raven sighed, shaking her head as she did so, only to turn away from the daggers being glared from her daughter. "Tell us the truth."

"Well, Yang, when you were a baby and after your mother left, a friend of ours came to live with us and help me raise you. Her name was Summer. Do you remember anything now?" Closing her eyes, Yang tried and tried to recall anything that her father explained, but found nothing, forcing herself to shake her head. "That's okay, you were probably four when we fell apart…"

"Dad, what are you talking about?"

"It's a _very_ long story, Yang-"

Raven put her foot down, as well as her fist and growled at the man before her, "Well make it shorter then, and tell us what we're doing here!"

"Mom!"

"No, Yang!" Taiyang exclaimed harshly, holding a lone finger to his daughter's face. "She's right. As much as it pains me to say it… There's no point to hiding it from you any longer…" He turned and faced worried lilac eyes while two sets of red-eyes continued to watch in silence. "Listen, Yang, there's something about your friend that you need to know. I never would have realized it by name alone, as their surname is rather popular in our kingdom, but once I saw Ruby's face… I knew it had to be true."

"What had to be true? … Dad?"

He smiled lightly before opening his eyes, glancing back at his daughter with sorrow or maybe hope, "How would you like to know more about your family?"

* * *

 **Well, that's an interesting development. So it seems as though Tai knows something. Let's see if his theory is true.**

 **Poor Ruby, promised by her mom that she'd be home but found nothing. Oh well, at least she couldn't comprehend that. Here's a tip, 9 times out of ten, someone whose sleepwalking isn't going to remember something you tell them while their walking, which is why she didn't remember any of it. To her, it was just another forgettable dream. Still, didn't seem like it affected her too much.**

 **Not much else happened, here. Right now I just wanted to end the chapter and in turn, the arc as well. If I ever get back into this, the next arc is consisting more focus around the intermediate group with a bit more focus on after-school shenanigans. Who knows, Weiss may even be a contender, soon, too.**

 **That being said, I hoped you all enjoyed and I thank you for your patience. I know not many people care about the story, but for those of you who do care and read this story at any point, I deeply thank you. I'm actually starting on my own book series, which is why I've been so distant with all of this. One story at a time, otherwise you get burned out. Actually, this chapter was a break for me. If it goes over well enough, that'll give me the boost I need for later. Your review would be appreciated, and should any update be needed for this, I'll be sure to post it for you all.**

 **Once again, thanks for reading.**

 **Until Next Time.**


	20. Back On The Case

**Well, hello there.**

 **I'll be honest, I didn't intend for this chapter to be a thing, but I needed a break from the book I've been trying to write as well as the real life that has been sucking the life out of me a little bit. It was a good break to have, and I hope you enjoy.**

 **Does this mean I'm back? Only will be stopping by here or there, but I'll be around regardless.**

 **Enjoy.**

* * *

Ozpin sat in his office in silence, going over the various paperwork he was given at the start of the day. As headmaster, it was his duty to keep his students safe and secure, but also happy and healthy within the walls of his academy. His paperwork usually consisted of requisition orders that required his signature from various departments in his academy. Orders for materials for school projects that, in order to be delivered directly, required his permission. Usually, he would sign without issue, as he's been dealing with the same companies for years, now, but for newer student projects, he liked to make them give a reason and explain as to why they're doing what they're doing. Not only was it fun, but it was also educational for those involved.

Also, there were orders by the custodial workers that he almost never questioned, though he went over it thoroughly. He made the mistake once by not checking the list, and was stuck with a fully-functional pizza maker. Now, his students enjoy the best pepperoni pizzas for three dollars or less. As he read through his lists, pondering why the woodshop needed new table saw blades when the phone atop his desk began to ring. When this happened, it meant that his front desk clerk had someone ready to visit, or someone on the phone. He had no appointments, making this a sudden visit.

Uncommon, even for the hustle and bustle of his academy. If a student was in trouble he would at least be notified via email about it, or receive a call from his teachers. Some of them even texted him about it. However, walk-ins were very, very rare.

He picked up the phone and sighed, even though his mind was plagued with curiosity. "Yes?" He inquired, voice smooth and deep. Leaning back in his chair, his face went turned into a stern look, gazing at the door with an angered look as he listened to his assistant. "Okay, send her in, but notify Glynda that I'd like her to get here immediately. Thank you."

He hung up and rose to his feet, eager to welcome probably his most unwelcomed guest yet. As he did, the door pushed open, revealing a tall woman with long, black hair slicked back into a ponytail, red eyes locking onto his glasses as she held a suitcase in hand, dressed in all black with black boots, as well, her jacket zipped halfway down to show off her bust. She walked in and closed the door behind her before standing at attention, the briefcase in both of her hands as she respectfully bowed her head towards her former instructor.

"It's good to see you again, Ozpin." She said, respectfully, her voice smooth and calming. "Though, judging by the look you're giving me, I have a feeling this may not end well, for me."

"You'd be correct, Raven." The slender headmaster quickly retorted. "Happy as I am to see a former student, especially one as successful as yourself," She blushed at the compliment, dropping her head for a second as he continued, "I've seen what happens when a private investigator drops in unannounced. I can't possibly imagine why you're here, but…" He walked away from his desk and nodded to the chair, walking towards the far wall and opening a hidden fridge. "Please, have a seat. Would you like a drink?" Couldn't forget hospitality, after all. No matter how uneasy he was by her presence.

Raven turned down both the seat and the drink with a simple shake of her head, all while putting her briefcase down on one of the open chairs in front of his hickory oak wood desk. "Thank you, but no. I'm actually here for something that only you can help me with, Headmaster." She put emphasis on the title, causing the man to raise an eyebrow, keeping a stern look on his face. "You see, my office received a requisition for assistance by the Kingdom of Vale."

"Oh? Interesting."

"Just wait, old man, it gets better. You see, the department that got me on their side, was the Department of Child Safety and Protection."

"Interesting."

Red eyes blinked before returning a stern, sharp gaze into the very soul of the man before her. "You wouldn't happen to know why?"

Ozpin pondered for a moment, speaking aloud as he did. "Well, I can imagine that they're overworked if they're calling for a Private Investigator for help, and I can only assume that it's because they received a tip off about a student of mine that is potentially in danger." Raven nodded, as he was on point, "And you want access to this student's personal record so that you may ensure his or her safety, am I correct?"

"Almost. In fact, I can confirm that the student in question is a her. See, many years ago, this particular student was living in a foster home, and only recently did we discover the conditions of said home were less than desirable. This student in question ran away without a trace, and we have reasons to believe that this very student is enrolled here." Ozpin raised an eyebrow and stood back, keeping a stern gaze. "Ozpin, you know why I'm talking about, don't you?"

"You're positive of the student's identity and you know that they are here, yet you're here because…?" The man's question was purposefully intended to force the woman's hand and put all of her cards on the table. It was an attempt to understand her true intentions and prepare a proper retort. Unfortunately, it won't be that simple, as Raven was known for her poker face. Why couldn't it be Qrow? At least he wouldn't be so cryptic. "It seems as though you have everything in order. I'm not sure what _we_ here could do, other than ensure their safety within our walls."

Raven chuckled, her head dropping and shaking left and right slowly with her red eyes closed, until she picked back up with both eyebrows raised, not in a quizzical sense, but more of a surprised glance. "Don't play dumb with me, Oz. You're not that good at it." He raised a brow, unsure if it was a compliment or not, "I have a feeling that you know why I'm here." Now it was Ozpin's turn to return his intrigued gaze. "I came to you not as a former pupil to a former instructor, nor as an investigator to a headmaster."

"Oh?"

"I'm here as a parent, to a friend." Ozpin's eyes slowly became slits as he carefully examined the woman before him, noticing an entire mood change in her eyes, even her voice. Somehow, she became believable, and even made this interesting for him. Why would she come in under the guise of her occupation but say she was here as a parent? He wanted to know, so he nodded and pointed towards the empty chair in front of his desk, taking a seat at his. "Thank you."

"No problem. To say you haven't caught my attention now would be a lie." He leaned into his desk and propped his elbows upon the table top, nodding towards the woman. "Go ahead. Plead your case."

With a deep breath, and a long sigh, Raven began her solemn appeal. "Ozpin," She quietly said, "do you remember Summer? Summer Rose?" The man nodded, picturing a familiar, young, mature yet spunky lass, interested with nothing more than helping people, and was taken too soon. Raven chuckled and dropped her head again. "Of course, you remember. You permitted her daughter to attend here, earlier than most."

"That happens all of the time." He easily waved off. "We take the brightest minds from all over the world, no matter their age. In fact, that's what we did for Summer, if you recall."

Raven nodded, "A year younger than everybody, but smarter than those two years higher." Both chuckled at the memory of the woman, until red, pleading eyes locked onto the man behind the desk. "Ozpin, I found out something, the other day. And I can't tell you how I got this information, but I have it and it's time I capitalized."

"Oh?"

"Oz-… Headmaster. When we were kids, Summer and I made a promise. That no matter what, we would always stay friends and later in life, we promised that, whenever we had kids, we would always be there for them, as well as each other, no matter what. No matter the rime or reason, if anything happened to one, the other would take their place and be the mother the child never had. When… When Taiyang and I began having our problems, just after Yang was born… Summer stepped up. I wasn't mad, she was doing her job... What I asked her to do…"

Ozpin took a deep breath as the woman's gaze drifted into the desk, a blank look in her eyes as she reminisced. "She was Yang's mother for so long, and even mothered a child of her own. When she told me she was pregnant, I began to wonder if my relationship with Tai was dead and buried. I drifted away, and Summer drifted closer to him… And to… Her."

"To Yang?"

Raven nodded solemnly, "Yeah. You've treated her well, you know? Both of them…"

"What are you trying to get at, Raven? I know you didn't come here to spill your guts all over my desk."

The woman chuckled lightly and leaned back in her chair, nodding softly. "You're right." She clapped her hands together lightly and blinked at the man, who could swear could see a tear in those deadly red eyes. "Ozpin, I made a promise to Summer… No matter what, I would keep her baby safe. Just as she did for me… I broke that promise to her. I messed up, so, so badly. And whether by some miracle, or by your probably insanely intricate plan, she's here."

He nodded as her tapped the tips of his fingers together, eyes darting around in though. "I see. So, you come to me with the sob story of a lifetime and expect me to give in and give you everything you ever will need in life, including the privilege to see her during school hours?"

"W-w-well, no, not during school." She admitted, shakily, "Listen, I don't need to see her, now. I just need to make sure that she's safe. It was my job to ensure her safety the first time and I couldn't do that, help me make this right! Please! I'm begging!"

The tall headmaster shook his head and closed his eyes. "I'm sorry, but no-can-do." Raven was about to protest, but he held up a lone finger and stopped her cold. "Raven," He admonished. "You know I can't. The law in Vale prevents me from putting any of my students in harm's way."

"Ozpin-!"

"I don't like it as much as you!" He sternly snapped, "As headmaster, I have a _duty_ to these students. I _must_ keep them safe, no matter the cost. Physically and emotionally." Her face fell, more and more, arms dropping to her lap as failure began to set in. "Raven, I want to help, but there are legal issues that are stopping me from doing so. Unless I have some form of written or verbal proof from the party in question, I can face some serious ramifications for allowing you to simply walk up to the girl and say hi. And, should I feel that you are conspiring in any way, I am obligated to inform the authorities. I'm sorry, but I have my duties."

"But what if the party in question isn't around?"

"You know that, girl, you studied law for four years. It stays in limbo… I'm sorry, but you're stuck. Ruby Rose and her permanent records with Beacon Academy are off limits. Legally speaking."

Raven picked up her suitcase in a huff and rose to her feet, straightening her black overcoat as she did. "I see how it is, then." She tried to keep her composure, but her voice gave a hint towards her spite for the man before her. In her mind, she knew he was right, but this was the only way she could get to Ruby. This was really her only lead. "Legally, I can't come in and say that I need to see her, or her file… But what if… I got a warrant."

The man shook his head and laughed, rising out of his chair with his hands firmly gripping his oak desk, glaring daggers into the woman's soul. "Raven, we've known each other for quite a while, so I'll be blunt when I tell you this. You don't have a leg to stand on in this fight. There will be _no_ way that I will hand those records over to you," His expression abruptly fell into an enraged look, his eyes becoming slits between their lids as he continued, "and I promise you that if I even _think_ that you're going after _my_ student behind my back, I will not hesitate to file an injunction against you and the firm you work for." He growled, enraged by the prospect of being bullied into giving in. "But please, I _dare_ you to find a judge who will sign off on that. Go ahead and make it interesting for me."

Raven's harsh red eyes squinted as she nodded, accepting the gauntlet that had been thrown. She knew Vale's laws regarding child safety, and knew that this would be no easy task. Not only was he right in everything he said, but she knew the challenge could not be met. No judge in this kingdom would ever allow that. "We'll be in touch, then." She turned to walk out, but was met by a familiar busty blond with emerald green eyes and her hair done up in a bun, glasses perched upon her nose and a disheveled look on her face.

" _What_ is the meaning of-"

She was cut off as Raven brushed by her, chuckling as she walked out of the now open door. "Glynda, always a pleasure."

Goodwitch stopped and watched in stunned silence as she did a double take, trying to see if her eyes deceived her. She watched Raven walked away, out the office and eventually the front door, then emerald eyes glanced back at the man behind the desk, who only smiled and shrugged. She walked in and closed the door, approaching the large, oak desk with a look of disdain and inquiry on her face.

"Headmaster Ozpin, what was she doing in here?!"

The large man shrugged again, shaking his head. "Oh, it was just a failed attempt to make a visit to one of our students."

"Wha- To whom?"

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with, Glynda." He turned to face out his window and watched a familiar black car drive away, down towards the straight-away lane that took you to the main road. His face slowly fell as he leaned back in his chair more and nodded carefully, anticipating his next move. Raven just moved her night in striking position of his queen. He can either be aggressive and fall for a potential trap, or… He can be more conservative and set up a trap of his own… "Glynda?"

"Sir?"

"There may be something you can do, after all…"

* * *

Yang leaned into the table and glared at her work, the page staying as blank as her notes were. It wasn't just this class, it was every class. Ever since her very heated discussion with her mother the day before, she had been pondering more and more about her friends. Well, one in particular. There was always something familiar about Ruby, but Yang could never put her finger on it.

All day, she couldn't stop thinking about it. About her. She never gave it too much thought in the past, but always believed that Ruby was somebody. Now, her whole perception of reality may have turned upside down in just a single afternoon. If it was just Raven telling her all of this, there was no way that she could have believed her, but both her dad and uncle corroborated the story.

Ruby Rose, her best friend, was really her long-lost half-sister.

A lot of truths were revealed that day, none of which resonated more to Yang than the fact that Ruby _lied_ to her. That hurt more than anything, as Yang always told the young teen that she could tell her anything, no matter what. That she would always be there for her… But her trust was thrown carelessly out the window… It was almost a pleasure to help her mom out when she came to her for help on anything and everything about Ruby. But, even so, Yang could not stand by and tell the woman everything.

As hurt as she was, she still had a duty to protect Ruby. Not that the girl would be in danger in Raven's claws, so to speak, but Yang never trusted her mom. Besides, she wanted to get to the bottom of this conspiracy personally. Currently, she was in math class, her second to last of the day, and had stayed surprisingly distant from her friends all day. So much so that it began to worry Ruby. She sat next to the blonde all day, trying to get any form or reaction, from a chuckle to an angry cry of vengeance, but alas, nothing. There was nothing Yang could say to the teen, nothing that she wanted to say, at least. If she opened her mouth for anything, it would be to curse out the brunette for everything she stood for in life.

And that just wasn't her.

She shook herself from her stupor as Pyrrha nudged her slightly, but sternly. The athletic redhead always had a way to break silence, somehow. "What?" Yang sternly inquired.

"You've been blowing us off all day." Pyrrha huffed, "Come on! I thought we had fun this weekend?" They stayed to a low whisper, as not to disturb the others around them, but both Ruby and Blake eavesdropped on, the former concerned with the response. Being the last two at the house, they wondered if they did something wrong before they left. "You're worrying poor Ruby to death over there with your cold shoulder silent treatment crap."

"Is everything okay, Yang?" Ruby inquired, with batted breath and an intrigued, yet worried, mind. "We aren't in trouble… Are we?"

Yang considered this for a moment, her mind racing for an excuse. As mad and angry at young Ruby as she was, the teen didn't deserve this. After all, it was probably self-preservation. "Yeah. It's fine. I just got a visit from my mom yesterday and it… Well, it didn't do too well for my psyche. I'm just trying to cool off, but… You know how I can be after that…" The group accepted the excuse, but it still left a worrying impression on a certain silver-eyed teens face, which caught Yang's lilac eye. "I'm fine, Ru. Honest."

The teen nodded and went back to her work, leaving Yang to her thoughts. Sure, she was mad at everyone. Her dad for being so secretive, her friend for being a liar and her mom for… Well, being her. But she still didn't have a right to treat everyone like crap. She thought about how she was going to go about with this, and wanted to talk to Ruby before Raven could get to her, but didn't know when or where to begin…

She mindlessly began her work, vigorously writing down the equations, noting that the tension around her began to boil over. She felt worried silver orbs glance over from all sides, but refused to acknowledge them as she continued to think to herself. If Ruby really _was_ her long-lost sister, as her mother and dad said, then what would Raven want to do with her, anyway? Both her and Qrow seemed interested in the teen, and yet, both refused to say why. This worried Yang, so she purposefully and adamantly withheld information from them to protect her friend. Betrayal sits below safety, for Yang. She may be upset, but she couldn't put her friend in harm's way.

Then again, would Qrow really hurt her? She wasn't sure about her mom, but Qrow of all people wouldn't go that far against a child...

Maybe Blake was right… Maybe she _was_ a better trained guard dog.

Of course, this also meant she had an obligation to warn her friend about a possible danger growing from within her own family. What to do? If she warned Ruby straight up, right here right now, she'd have to admit to everything she knew… If she waited, it could be too late. The question was, did she want to trust a liar, or her treacherous, untrustworthy family… Who, in retrospect, always lied to her, well more than Ruby has, as far as she knew… Trust one liar or another, both of whom are family…

What to do?

Her questions were left spinning in her mind as the bell rang out, causing the busty blonde to pack away her work, which was now added to the growing list of homework for the day. Four classes down, six sheets of homework. How did that work? Yang shook the thought free from her mind and brought her bag up on the table as Pyrrha and Nora left with the rest of the class, saying they'll be waiting in the next class. The former was annoyed with Yang's negative attitude, and the blonde would accept any and all hate. After a great weekend, her friends didn't deserve any of this. Now they think she hates them, when she doesn't. In fact, she didn't know what to think.

As Yang zipped her backpack up, a force attached itself onto her back, it's arms wrapping around her torso and squeezing her lightly. She was about ready to knock the living daylights out of this person, out of instinct, but stopped herself when she turned and saw the top of a head, with short, brown hair.

"Yang?" Called a meek voice, quiet enough that only they could hear between the rabble of the exodus around them. "Whatever we did to make you mad… I'm sorry…"

The busty blonde took it to heart and smiled softly, sighing deeply as she picked up her right arm and brought it upon Ruby's head, rustling her hair lightly and shaking her own head. "It's not you, Ru, I promise." She lied, keeping the peace, "It'll be okay." Now that was the truth, as she pulled herself away from the embrace. "I'm just going to be on edge for a little while, is all." Ruby nodded and threw the bag over her shoulder before walking past her friend. "I'll be right behind you!" Of course, she'd walk out with her group, if it wasn't for a stern gaze from familiar amber eyes staring her down, challenging her. "Something to say, Blake?"

The bow-wearing teen stepped forward and glared daggers, her eyes nothing more than weary slits and her voice was low and ominous. "You may be able to fool them, but I'm not so easy to get by."

"Oh?"

Blake nodded as she received an equally hateful glare from the busty blonde, who matched her height. "You're really bad at playing dumb. You've been glaring daggers at Ruby all day, so you better spit out whatever is bothering you, or get over it and move on." She quickly stepped to the side and walked away in a huff, but was stopped by a firm grip on her arm. Blake turned with fire in her eyes, ready to snap at the blonde, but Yang got the first word.

"Not that you'll care, but I've been holding back a lot of aggression today, a _lot_ of my feelings." The blonde sneered with an unusually angered tone. "But Ruby is my friend, and I can't protect her on a day to day basis, so I'm going to trust you to do that."

"What are you talking about?" Blake quizzically inquired, trying and failing to free herself.

Yang shook her head and sighed, "I can't tell you too much, but I want you to keep a sharp eye out for Ruby, okay? Please?" Amber eyes stayed locked onto lilac orbs, but saw sincerity and honesty in the warning. It wasn't a threat at all. "Someone will be looking for her, and I don't trust either of them…"

"Why is that?"

With a heavy, almost dejected sigh, Yang replied: "Because they won't trust _me_."

* * *

"Well?" A grainy voiced man called out, bringing the woman back from her stupor as she stared blankly at the ceiling. "Now what?"

"Well, I have a few more leads I can take, before the river dries." She said, her voice dejected and low, sighing heavily. "There's that one couple that Yang told me about, the one that Ruby's constantly raved over… There's that one girl, Blake, the new one, though she seems to be as heavily protective as Yang was, as well. But that's all we have to go on."

"Ah, this might be tough, then."

She nodded, her head held high, both physically and metaphorically. "Yeah, it will be. Interesting, to say the least, this'll be the first case in a while that'll give me trouble. It's already a pain in my ass, just because of Ozpin and his stupid knowledge of Vale's legal system, threatening to get involved if he suspects we're interacting with Ruby in any way."

"He went that far?" The man inquired with surprise, eyes growing wide when his sister nodded solemnly. "Well, you knew from the start you weren't going to woo him, but that really puts the pressure on us. The man has eyes everywhere, somehow."

"Yeah, that's true. Still didn't hurt to try, right? Now, though, he's going to be more protective and mindful of his student. He's adamant about her safety… Well, everyone's safety, but he knows now of what we're trying to do."

"Played your hand too early and only showed a pair of deuces. And he won't accept any of our shenanigans on his property, anyway." Raven nodded slowly, causing her twin to sigh. "You're right, this will be tough. But, this is your cold case. You need to figure out a way to finish it, on a happy note."

"And you said you'd help when I needed, right?"

"… True."

She spun her chair around and raised an eyebrow at her twin with a small smile, setting her mug down on the desk in front of her. "I may call on you, soon. You're expertise will be needed in the near future, I think."

"Why don't I like the sound of that, Rae?" She chuckled lightly and turned her chair back to the window, watching the sun set over the cities skyline. "Oh, we're going to stick it to Oz, aren't we?" She glanced at him and winked, causing him to grin and rise from his seat. "Great, love making an enemy of our greatest ally."

* * *

Blake sat back in her car and rolled down the window, letting the cool breeze of the sunshiny day embrace her, as her passenger did the same. Ruby stretched her muscles far as she patiently waited for a chill breeze to fly in her face, her plan being to hang her head out the window like a dog all the way home. It wasn't every day where Vale had a sunny October day, usually it would be cloudy, rainy and depressing. Nope, not today. Sun shining, singing birds, and they were free of bad attitudes.

Which was actually what Blake had on her mind, and she wanted to bring it up here. "So," She began, starting her car, "How about Yang, today, huh?"

The car began to roll backwards as the raven-haired driver peeked back to ensure nobody was in her way as Ruby rolled her eyes and huffed. "I know, right? Like, she's usually in a bad attitude after her mom visits, but never like this… No, she was holding a major grudge, today… I wonder why."

 _'Now's your chance, Blake.'_ The faunus told herself. "Ruby…"

"Yo."

"Yang said something… During fourth block."

"Yeah, I know, I heard her." The teen replied, easily, her hands hidden behind her head as her right leg sat atop her left knee. "She said she'd be on edge a while."

"No, _after_ class…" The red-themed passenger raised an eyebrow with interest. "I stayed after to kinda have a word, let her know that she needed to cool off and fast, because she was being a bummer." Not the whole truth, and the disguised teen kicked herself for it, but she continued anyway. "She told me that you need to be careful."

"About what? Did I do something else while sleep-"

"No, no, _stop_." Silver eyes went wide with surprise at the harsh words from her friend, causing the younger teen to pay closer attention. "I don't know what it was, but Yang seemed like she knew something- something she wasn't supposed to know. She didn't like it and didn't know how to tell you." Blake finally pulled out to the main road and got up to speed quickly, though she kept one eye on the road, the other on the passenger, reading the reaction from the teen. "It wasn't you, but it definitely seemed like she knew something or _someone_ was coming and she obviously didn't trust it or _them_ … To be honest, I wouldn't either."

Ruby shook her head incredulously and huffed, "So, what? Am I supposed to cower away and hide until this blows over?" In a pout, she crossed her arms in front of her chest and stared daggers into the driver, who seemed to take exception. "Because that's the last thing I want to do."

Blake shook her head and furrowed her brow. "No. We're just going to have to be extra careful. You never know, those same people who threw you in that home all those years ago may come back for you. She may know something of it…"

"But… How?"

The faunus shook her head and shrugged. "I don't know, maybe she obviously knows something we don't. Maybe she was approached by someone after we left. Regardless, we can't let this get the best of us. We'll play everything by ear and be cautious, and we'll definitely have to keep an open line of communication with Yang. I have a feeling she'll help us far more than hurt us."

Ruby nodded but stayed quiet as she watched the world go by, a sense of worry on her face. She was grateful for Blake telling her this, but wondered just what Yang knew and how much and how she knew it. Was it really the same person who put her there at the home? If so, she didn't want to hide. No, she needed to face _her_ , one last time…

But how did _she_ know Yang?

Blake once again glanced over as she came to the last red light before home, noticing the oddly focused look on her passengers face and finding herself intrigued. "You know something about this too, don't you?"

Ruby looked up and shook her head, sighing as she did. "It's nothing, Blake." She lied, returning to the world outside her window. "Nothing at all..."

* * *

 **Ah, don't you love a chapter full of conspiracy? Nobody can trust anybody and everybody is a liar, but who's telling less of a lie? You decide!**

 **Honestly, this wasn't my best work, but I wanted to set up the new arc, even though there was more that I wanted to do. It still won't be focused on just Yang, Ruby and Blake, we have a letter missing in our team, don't we? Don't worry, we'll be seeing her more, soon. Very soon, I promise.**

 **I want to thank you for sticking with it so far, as I'm really bad at uploads. Actually, I'm just bad at getting these done. Still, I hope you enjoyed!**

 **Until Next Time!**


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